history surname oakley
Oakley Genealogy & History. Oakley is from the pre-seventh-century Old English word ac and leah, denoting oak tree and wooded place. Oakley is then a locational name meaning a grove of oaks. There are over 12 places in Southern England with some spelling of the name. Some of the different spellings are Oakly, Okly, Ockley, and Oakeley. Oakley family history has the first recorded spelling of the name in 1199 of Hervey de Ocle in the Assize Rolls of Staffordshire, England. Oakley genealogy includes artist and art teacher Violet Oakley; educator and historian Francis Christopher Oakley; and sharpshooter and exhibition shooter Annie Oakley.