Sawley Family History

Probably usually from Sawley (WR Yorks) near Clitheroe in Lancs, as suggested in Redmonds Dictionary of Yorks Surnames, since it was in this area that the modern name chiefly ramified. However, Sawley near Ripon (WR Yorks) and Sawley (Derbys) also gave rise to surnames in the medieval period.

The WR Yorks place-names are both recorded as Sallai(a) in the medieval period and derive from Old English salh ‘willow, sallow’ + lēah ‘wood, woodland clearing’. The Derbys place-name which is recorded as Sallaw(a) and Sallawe from the 12th to 14th centuries derives from Old English salh + hlāw ‘mound, hill’.

Compare Sall.