Hayley

I am on the side of the quoted meaning for the surname Hayley, namely "hay meadow". This is the meaning given in serious name books, and not only Kent Cleveland Evans has it, but also Hanks and Hodges A Dictionary of First Names' (Oxford University Press, 1992).

Accidentally I came across another derivation for Hayley as a given name only, not for the surname, namely a shortening of the name Mahaley, ultimately from Biblical Mahalat.

All these baby name sites with the meaning for the name Hayley is so wrong and need to do more research and get their definitions right.

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Hayley derives from the place-name Hailey, which is composed of the Old English elements hēg (hay) and lēah (wood, clearing, meadow).

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Heg definition;
A fence formed by a row of closely planted shrubs or bushes

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Any wise person who has an old dictionary or even google would know that heg means fence, barrier, hedge or enclosure.

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Hayley is a beautiful name meaning (a fenced meadow).

Origin of the name Hayley:

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Transferred use of a Northern English surname derived from Hale or Hales (residing in a nook, recess, or remote valley). It has also been suggested that Hayley derives from the place-name Hailey, which is composed of the Old English elements hēg (hay) and lēah (wood, clearing, meadow).

So the northern English meaning of this name is (someone who lives in a cozy relaxed corner in a faraway valley) I love this meaning it’s so zen!

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And from the old English place name Hailey meaning hay meadow.

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This I found on babynamewizard.com.

So when you see the meaning HAY meadow the word HAY does not mean dry grass it means fence, high, enclosed.

Haywood Name Meaning. English (Midlands): habitational name from any of various places, for example in Herefordshire. Nottinghamshire, Shropshire, and Staffordshire, Old English (ge)hæg 'enclosure' + wudu 'wood'. Meaning fenced forest.

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Last name: Hayward. Recorded in the spellings of Hayward, Haward, and Heyward, this is an English surname. It originates from the pre 7th Century words "hege" meaning hedge or fence, plus "weard", a watch or guardian.

Scotland
In Scotland, Hayes is a Scoto-Norman surname, a direct translation of the Normans' locational surname "de la Haye", meaning "of La Haye", La Haye ("the hedge") being the name of several towns on the Cotentin peninsula of Normandy, France. The first Norman namebearer to arrive in Scotland was William II de la Haye in the time of the Norman invasion. Clan Hay descends from him.[7]

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Variants
Hay, Haye, Hays, Heas, Heyes, Highes, O'Hea, Hease, Heyes, Heise, Hughes, Haynes, Haines

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Haines
From the Old English word of “haegen” which can be translated to mean “the enclosure.” There are many spellings of the town or village of Haynes, which are all recorded in the Doomsday Book of 1086, which was a document that was supposed to encompass the “Great Surevey” of England. Some examples of the spelling in the Doomsday Book include Hagenes,

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More common variations are: Hains, Haine, Haynes, Hain, Hayne, Heynes, Hayn, Hainnes, Hayines

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SO IF YOU HAVE STUDIED OLD ENGLISH, MIDDLE ENGlISH, ANGLO SAXON AND KNOW YOUR HISTORY ABOUT THE NORMAN CONQUEST IN 1066, You will know that the name HAYLEY means a fenced meadow, or a high meadow.

This is from someone who studied old English/ Middle English from its origins in Anglo-Saxon, England you name it. Most of these sites has the meaning for the name Hayley wrong.

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Family History

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Hay Name Meaning
Scottish and English: topographic name for someone who lived by an enclosure, Middle English hay(e), heye (Old English (ge)hæg, which after the Norman Conquest became confused with the related Old French term haye ‘hedge’, of Germanic origin). Alternatively, it may be a habitational name from any of various places named with this word, including Les Hays and La Haye in Normandy. The Old French and Middle English word was used in particular to denote an enclosed forest. Compare Haywood. This name was taken to Ireland (County Wexford) by the Normans. Scottish and English: nickname for a tall person, from Middle English hay, hey ‘tall’, ‘high’ (Old English heah). Scottish and English: from the medieval personal name Hay, which represented in part the Old English byname Heah ‘tall’, in part a short form of the various compound names with the first element heah ‘high’. French: topographic name from a masculine form of Old French haye ‘hedge’, or a habitational name from Les Hays, Jura, or Le Hay, Seine-Maritime. Spanish: topographic name from haya ‘beech tree’ (ultimately derived from Latin fagus). German: occupational name from Middle High German heie ‘guardian’, ‘custodian’ (see Hayer). Dutch and Frisian: variant of Haye 1.
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford University Press

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Hayley really means fence meadow, high meadow, or enclosed meadow, the name also has other meanings in different languages.

Origins of this name are actually Scandinavian, and it's meaning is hero. There is more to the definition though I cannot remember all of it at this very moment. Will update as soon as I can.

I really don't think this means 'Hay Meadow'. I study both Old English and onomastics of place-names at university, and any place names that contain the element Hay- have derived form the Old English (ge)haeg (ae should actually be an ash symbol), which means 'fence' or 'enclosure'. I'm pretty sure heg doesn't mean hay.

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I think it is heag + leah, meaning, 'field with a fence round it'. I could be wrong.

From the Scandavian meaning hero, she is lively, intelligent and something of a tomboy, she bubbles with life.

I have also seen this name listed as of Scandanvian origin, meaning 'hero'.