ley Name Meaning and History English: variant of Lye. French: habitational name from Ley in Moselle. French and German: from a medieval personal name, Eloy (Latin Eligius, a derivative of eligere ‘to choose or elect’), made popular by a 6th-century saint who came to be venerated as the patron of smiths and horses. German (Rhineland): topographic name from Middle High German leie ‘rock’, ‘stone’, ‘slate’, or a habitational name from any of several places named with this word. Compare Leier.
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4