Foly Family Crest & Name History

Foly is one more way Foley has been written over the centuries. Surname dictionaries give the meaning as “Grandson of Foghlaidh (plunderer)”.

Heraldry and the Foly name

Arms linked to Foley and its spellings were granted to individual families; our heraldry team traces which line they belonged to.

Foly and Foley

Without the “e” of Foley, Foly is a simpler written form of the same name. Spellings drifted because names were written down by ear in parish books, tax rolls and passenger lists. Related forms: Fowley, O'Foley and Fohilly.

French civil records give 174 births under the name Foly from 1891 to 2000, peaking in 1981–1990. The name became more frequent over the century. Get the complete Foly report, with a museum-style coat of arms.