Manley

Part of speech: adjective, noun

Definitions

1. A family name or geographical location with historical and contemporary usage in English-speaking regions
2. A proper noun referring to either a person's surname or a place identified by this designation
3. A name used to identify individuals or locations in English-speaking areas, appearing in historical records and modern contexts

Etymology: Manley is a surname before it is anything else, and English has several distinct family lines that share its spelling. One goes back to Old English "mæne", meaning "common" or "shared", combined with "lēah", meaning "woodland" or "clearing". The name is equivalent to the place-name element that gives us "mean" plus "-ley", so it describes a common piece of woodland, a place held in shared use by a community. A second English line takes the name from the adjective "manly", meaning brave and manlike, so the surname there is a descriptive nickname that became hereditary. Irish bearers of the name have a separate pedigree altogether. Their name is an anglicization of "Ó Máinle", meaning "descendant of Máinle", and related families, including those using the spelling Malley, descend from the same forms. A further Irish origin comes from "Ó Maonghaile", meaning "descendant of Maonghal", a name built from "maoin", meaning "wealth", and "gal", meaning "valour" or "fury".

Synonyms: manly, masculine, virile

Antonyms: effeminate, womanly