#surname database

Continuing some family history research over the holiday break, I realized I never had a derivation for the Gartley's as there is no entry in the Surname database.

My 3G Grandfather, Alexander Mervin Gartley, was born in Saint Johnson, County Donegal, Ireland, to Henry and Mary Chestnutt Gartley. He emigrated by way of Liverpool to New York City in 1851. A lot of this was provided from a letter from his Grandson and is now listed on the Find A Grave entry: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6897044/alexander-m-gartley

He married Lydia Ann Little in Pittsburgh, PA, in 1853 where he worked as an Iron smelter. He served in the Civil War, and eventually moved to Idaho where he died in 1912.

His parents are listed on his death record, and my own research brought them back to Scotland. Here is what I found with my new research today:

It's Saint Johnstown or St. Johnston, now St. Johnstown, as is listed on the Find A Grave: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Johnston,_County_Donegal

I have both parents born around 1805, while a tree on Ancestry guesses at 1790. I have Henry's birthplace as Edinburgh, Scotland, which led me to search Scottish Birth Records. There I found a number of Gartleys born in Gartly, Aberdeen, Scotland. Thus, we have the origin of the name. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gartly

The hamlet is named for Gartly Castle, built by the Clan Barclay in the 15th century and owned it til the 16th century. Nothing of the castle remains today after being demolished between 1975 and 1982. https://www.stravaiging.com/history/castle/gartly-castle

So there we have it, Gartley is:

Scottish: habitational name from Gartly (Aberdeenshire), earlier the barony of Garntuly in Strathbogie.

Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.

From Google Generative AI:

The surname Gartley is a Scottish habitational name that originated from Gartly in Aberdeenshire, which was previously known as the barony of Garntuly in Strathbogie. Similar surnames include: 

Bartley

Hartley

Gailey

Gurley

Barley

Gurtler

Antley

Girdley

Between 1840 and 1920, the Gartley family name was found in the following countries: USA, UK, Canada, and Scotland.