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Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • English : according to Reaney, a habitational name from Kennerleigh in Devon, so named from the Old English personal name Cyneweard + Old English lēah ‘woodland clearing’. However, the surname is found predominantly in Cheshire and Lancashire, suggesting that a more likely source is Kinnerley in Shropshire, which is named with the Old English personal name Cyneheard + lēah. Kennerley is the much commoner spelling in the U.K.

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