Frequency: (1381)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
English: habitational name from Raleigh in Devon, recorded in Domesday Book as Radeleia, from Old English rēad ‘red’ + lēah ‘wood’, ‘clearing’.
FOREBEARS: The English explorer Sir Walter Raleigh (1554-1618) was born in Hayes Barton, Devon, into a family of Devon gentry. He was related to most of the West Country's important families, including that of Sir Francis Drake. His half-brother was the explorer Sir Humphrey Gilbert. In 1578 Raleigh was granted a patent to explore and colonize “unknown lands” in America.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
