Recorded as Parley, Parmley, and possibly others, this is an English locational surname. It originates either from the Parley villages in the county of Dorset known as East and West Parley, or from some now 'lost' medieval village whose name probably means 'Pear farm' or similar. This is from the pre 7th century Olde English 'per-leah'. Locational surnames are 'from' names. They are the most popular grouping within the surnames listings. They were generally given to people after they left their original villages to move somewhere else. Spelling over the centuries being at best indifferent, and local accents very thick, soon lead to the creation of 'sounds like' spellings. Lost villages are also a ferature of surname lstings. It is estimated that at leadt three thousand modern surnames originate from villages whose only public record in the late 20th century is the surviving surname. In this case early examples of the surname recordings taken from surviving church registers of Greater London include Dorothey Parley who married Robert Osgood at St Margarets Westminster, on October 1st 1650, and two centuries later that of Jonathon Parmley and his wife Jane, who were christening witnesses at St Botolphs Bishopgate, on June 11th 1854.

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