Peter - I think you can bet the ranch on the possibility that Wylie, Wyly, and Wiley all come from the same Celtic or a/s stock, and that it is likely that Wholey could well be a variant, also. I have the same problem with my "names": Wilson might also be Willson; McNeal could be MacNeal, McNeil or MacNeill or you name it; Cavanaugh could be Kavanaugh or Kavanagh, and so forth and so on. Frustrating, isn't it, but it's still a lot of fun! Bob Wilson, Stamford, CT, USA Peter Robinson <[email protected]> wrote: There has been a bit of traffic lately on the other Antrim list re the surname WYLIE which has reignited an ember that has been smouldering for quite a while now in my ancient memory banks. :-) My mother's maiden name was WHOLEY and she was told when quite young (she's now 92) that the name originated from Ireland - the area was not mentioned. I did read somewhere a long time ago that there was a possibility that WYLIE and WHOLEY might be variants of the same name. Does anyone have any thoughts/knowledge of whether this might be correct? Peter, the older of the tworobbos @ Bairnsdale, gateway to the mountains, lakes, streams (and remnant forests) of East Gippsland ============================== To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 "PRO ARIS ET PRO FOCIS" --------------------------------- Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Auctions Great stuff seeking new owners! Bid now!