ur story starts back in the mists of history, in the heart of the Dark Ages. William the Conqueror, or as my ancestors, the Saxons, called him "William the Bastard", had just defeated the Saxons in the Battle of Hasting, the deciding battle for the Kingship of England in 1066. William wanted a full accounting of what he'd won, er...um, I mean what he would be ruling over and taxing, so he sent his men forth to make a full accounting of the lands under his dominion. The newly conquered Saxons called this book the Domesday Book (Doomsday Book in modern English).

They soon ran into a problem.  Most people were named after the Christian saints and most didn't have last names. A good sized town could have 5 or 6 men named John alone.  It was decreeded then that every man have a surname of some sort. Some men chose one based on what they did for a living: Smith and Tanner are examples of this. Some people chose to honor their fathers: Thomason and Johnson are examples of this. Others chose to base their names on where they lived: by the town, by the ford, in the forest.  Atherly is one of these names.  It was originally spelled "Æthre leah", which meant "by the  woodland glade" or "by the forest meadow" (loose translation).  A similar, more common name is "Æthre ton", which I understand means "by the town". You may have heard of William Atherton, the actor, who bears this name.

DISCLAIMER: The previous contains a few liberties with actual history. Call it Family Mythology.

here are many derivitives of this name: Atherley, Atherly, Aberly,  Ackerley, Atterley, Eberly, Eberle, Everly, Heatherley and Hatterley are a few examples.  Family legend has it that all of the Atherleys and all of the Atherlys are related.  Every one that I've encountered with these names has certainly borne a resemblance to me or my immediate family.  I am fairly sure that my family spelled our name with the extra "e" until we crossed the Canadian border. (My family first came to North America via what would become Canada in the 1700's.)

Now, aren't you sorry you asked?  Here is more information you didn't want:

• Family Heraldic Colors: Black and Silver. (Oddly, most of my wardrobe has been composed of these colors since I was 14 years old, a full decade before I knew they were the family colors.)
• Family Heraldic Animal: Swan. (Think swans are wimpy? Try picking a fight with one. One can kill a full grown man if it has a mind to.)
• Family Coat of Arms: Until I get a better graphics program to draw with or scan in the copy I have, you will have to settle for a description.  The shield contains a silver field transected from the upper left hand to the lower right hand side with a royal blue ribbon.  The ribbon is studded with three gold crosses.  The upper and lower halves of the shield formed by this transection each contain the roaring head of a lion rendered in royal blue and silver.  There is a rampant swan on each side of the shield.  Pretty cool, huh?

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