Show ContentsKerlee History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The Kerlee surname is an Anglicization, derived from the Irish Gaelic "Mac Toirdhealbhaigh."

Early Origins of the Kerlee family

The surname Kerlee was first found in the Connacht counties of Galway and Roscommon (Irish: Ros Comáin) located in central Ireland in the province of Connacht, where the places names Ballymacurley and Curley's Island can be found. There is also legend in Ireland, that the name descends from Maolduin, the second son of the 164th Monarch of Ireland, who founded the clanns of Muldoon. Maolduin's great, great grandson was Clercen, whose name means "curly one." Clercen founded the Clan O'Cleircen, which anglicized is Curley or Curling.

Early History of the Kerlee family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Kerlee research. Another 65 words (5 lines of text) covering the year 1305 is included under the topic Early Kerlee History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Kerlee Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Corley, MacCorley, Curley, Curlee, Curling, Kirley, McKerley, McCurley, McCurly and many more.

Early Notables of the Kerlee family

More information is included under the topic Early Kerlee Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Kerlee family

Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: Charles Curley who settled in America in 1654; Rich Corley, who was among those given a land patent in Virginia in 1675-76; Biddy and Margaret Curley, who settled in Quebec in 1849.


Contemporary Notables of the name Kerlee (post 1700) +

  • Dennis Kerlee (b. 1945), American actor, known for his work on The Twilight Zone (1959), Bachelor Father (1957) and Leave It to Beaver (1957)
  • Devin Kerlee, American actor, known for his work on Revelation Road: The Black Rider (2014)
  • Lt Charles E. Kerlee, American military photographer, member of The Naval Aviation Photographic Unit during the Second World War
  • C. Kerlee, American Republican politician, Alternate Delegate to Republican National Convention from Washington, 1916 1


  1. The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 6) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html


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