Ansley

English: habitational name from such places as Ansley in Warwick-shire or Annesley in Nottinghamshire. The former is named with Old English ānsetl ‘hermitage’+ lēah ‘woodland clearing’; the latter with an Old English personal name An (‘the solitary one’) + lēah. In some cases the American surname may be a respelling of Scottish Ainslie.

See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.