Frequency: (14991)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
1. Irish: variant of Herlihy.
2. Irish (Munster): Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó hUrthuile ‘descendant of Urthuile’.
3. Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Murthuile, ‘descendant of Murthuile’ (see Murley).
4. English: habitational name from places in Berkshire and Warwickshire so named from Old English hyrne ‘corner’, ‘bend’ + lēah ‘wood’, ‘clearing’.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
