Skip to main content

Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • English : habitational name from a place so called in Warwickshire. No forms of the name are recorded before the 13th century, when Povele, Poueleye, Powelee, Pouelee, and Poleye are all found. The second element is Old English lēah ‘wood’, ‘clearing’; the first is pofel, a word found occasionally in place names (but not attested independently), the meaning of which has not been established.
  • English : habitational name from Pooley Bridge in Cumbria, so named from Old English pōl ‘pool’ + Old Norse haugr ‘hill’, ‘mound’.
  • English : topographic name from Middle English pole ‘pool’ + ey ‘low-lying land’ or hey ‘enclosure’, or a habitational name from minor places originally named with these elements, such as Polly Shaw in Kent or the former Polleheye (13th-century), later Pooley (now named Hunt’s Hall) in Pebmarsh, Essex.

Join the Family

Your partner in parenting from baby name inspiration to college planning.

Subscribe