Show ContentsHafley History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The name is derived from the Irish Gaelic personal name "ó hEamhthaigh." 1 The origins of this ancient personal name are obscure. It is possible that there is a connection to the word "eamh" which denotes a "groaning or exclamation of disgust."

Early Origins of the Hafley family

The surname Hafley was first found in the Athlone region, County Westmeath (Irish: An Iarmhí) in the Irish Midlands, province of Leinster. Later some records of the family were found in Waterford and Cork. 1

Early recorded instances of the name are rare, but there was a bearer recorded as a husbandman of Thisteinagh, in Couty Westmeath in 1601.

Early History of the Hafley family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Hafley research. The years 1659, 1775 and 1835 are included under the topic Early Hafley History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Hafley Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Heaphy, O'Heaphy, Heaphey, Heavey, O'Heavy, Heafy, O'Heafey, Heflin and many more.

Early Notables of the Hafley family

Another 42 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Hafley Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Hafley Ranking

In the United States, the name Hafley is the 16,910th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 2

Migration of the Hafley family

Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: S. Dan Heafey, who was recorded in Iowa in 1866; John Heaphy, who was naturalized in Mississippi in 1876; Thomas Heavy, who was recorded in Philadelphia in 1832.


Contemporary Notables of the name Hafley (post 1700) +

  • Lucien Hafley (1906-1994), American Primetime Emmy Award winning set director, best known for his work on Mission: Impossible (1966), The Cisco Kid (1950) and The Flight of the Phoenix (1965)


  1. MacLysaght, Edward, More Irish Families. Dublin: Irish Academic Press, 1982. Print. (ISBN 0-7165-0126-0)
  2. "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/


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