Cooley Surname Meaning & Origin
What the Cooley last name means, where the surname began and how it spread.
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Meaning and origin of the Cooley last name
Meaning of the Cooley last name: son of the devotee of St Mochuille. Cooley is a surname with two roots. In Ireland it comes from Mac Giolla Chuille, "son of the devotee of Saint Mochuille", a rare name from County Clare. In England it may come from a place meaning "cow clearing". The last name reached New England in the 1600s. A curious detail of this family name meaning: the Irish form keeps the memory of a little-known local saint.
Arms associated with the Cooley name
In Gaelic Ireland heraldry was often linked with a whole sept rather than one person, and the coat of arms associated with the Cooley name grew in that custom.
Get your full Cooley family history
This is only a glimpse of the Cooley story. The full Cooley history report goes much deeper into where the name began, who carried it and how the family spread, and it comes with a museum-style painted Cooley coat of arms. Get the full Cooley report.
Cooley name FAQ
What does the Cooley name mean?
Son of the devotee of St Mochuille. Common variants include Cooly.
Where does the Cooley surname come from?
It originates in Ireland, and is also found in the United States, England and Canada.
Is there a Cooley coat of arms?
Arms were granted to individuals rather than to everyone with a surname. Herald Lab paints a personalized Cooley coat of arms in museum style, based on historic heraldry.
Sources: MacLysaght, The Surnames of Ireland; Patrick Woulfe, Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish Names and Surnames (1923); Dictionary of American Family Names (Oxford).