Harley Christian names and their variants

The names chosen by the Harley families from the 16th century to 19th centuries reveal a remarkable consistency, with only 22 different boys' names and 18 girls' used regularly, but a great deal of variation in their spellings! Spelling was not actually standardised until around 1755, when Samuel Johnson's dictionary was published, and even nowadays names are subject to variations through the whims of parents who want to be different. The original records would probably have been written down by clerks and registrars of varying degrees of literacy, and the vast majority of the names are spelt phonetically. Modern transcriptions have also given rise to a number of misinterpretations of difficult handwriting, and thus David Harley's name is spelt variously as "David Harley," "David Harlay" and "David Harlaw," and to add to the confusion his wife's name is given on different occasions as "Margaret Monteath," "Margret Monteath" and "Margaret Monteith," all between 1691 and 1701.

Names first used in the 16th & 17th centuries shown in blue, 18th century green and 19th century dark red; asterisks indicate "one-offs." You will no doubt also notice the total absence of the name Kenneth from the list. The names most commonly given to boys were John, James, David, William and Alexander, and to girls, Janet (and variants) Elizabeth (ditto) Agnes/Ann, Margaret and Helen.

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