An English surname meaning 'king's meadow' or a given name. Also refers to various notable people with this name, including authors and actors.
From Old English 'cyning' (king) plus 'lēah' (meadow, clearing). Originally a place name referring to a royal meadow or clearing, later adopted as a surname and given name.
Charles Kingsley, the Victorian author of 'The Water Babies', was also a social reformer who coined the phrase 'muscular Christianity' - the idea that physical fitness and moral virtue should go hand in hand. Many English surnames ending in '-ley' originally described specific landscape features.
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