Raleigh

Girl name variations

Boy name variations

Family name origins & meanings

• English : habitational name from Raleigh in Devon, recorded in Domesday Book as Radeleia, from Old English rēad ‘red’ + lēah ‘wood’, ‘clearing’.
• The English explorer Sir Walter Raleigh (1554–1618) was born in Hayes Barton, Devon, into a family of Devon gentry. He was related to most of the West Country’s important families, including that of Sir Francis Drake. His half-brother was the explorer Sir Humphrey Gilbert. In 1578 Raleigh was granted a patent to explore and colonize “unknown lands” in America.