Rowley as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Rowley

What is the meaning of the name Rowley ?

The baby name Rowley is a Male name , 2 syllables long and is pronounced ROH-lee (ˈroʊli).

Rowley is English in Origin.

Rowley is an English surname-turned-given name deriving from several places called Rowley across England, built from Old English ruh “rough, uncultivated” + leah “woodland clearing,” hence “clearing in rough ground.” Pronounced ROH-lee, it shares the -ley “clearing” element with related place-names such as Raleigh and appears in spellings such as Rowly and Rowleigh; related surnames include Rowles and Roweley.

The name is recorded as a locational surname from the 13th century, tied to settlements like Rowley in Yorkshire and Rowley Regis in the West Midlands. It entered given-name use in the 18th–19th centuries under the British fashion for surnames as first names and later traveled to North America and the Commonwealth. Historical bearers include the Jacobean dramatist William Rowley, while contemporary visibility comes from Rowley Jefferson of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. Usage remains modest and chiefly masculine, with a friendly, down-to-earth feel anchored in its rustic meaning.