View Message

[Facts] What is the real meaning of the name Schenley
I heard it means Samuel. That's only from one website though. Every other place I looked doesn't know. So what does it mean
vote up1vote down

Replies

Where did you find it?
vote up1vote down
I doubt a Samuel connection because of the letter "n". In Yiddish, Samuel is given as Schmuel or Schmul.The initial Sch suggest a German (not Germanic! the other Germanic languages use different spellings for that sound) origin, but it is not a German given name at all.It could be a surname, from Schönlay; schön means "beautiful" and Lay "rock, cliff, crag (of slate)" is the determiner also occurring in Loreley.

This message was edited 9/29/2015, 3:00 AM

vote up1vote down
You can't get any more Germanic than German...! ;-)
vote up1vote down
I can't give you a definitive answer, but allow me to make a couple of observations:
  • The suffix |-ley| usually refers to a "glade" in toponymic surnames.
  • The beginning |Sch-| is commonly seen in words & names of Germanic origin.
vote up1vote down