Tim Stowell wrote: [...] > Perhaps I missed it in the thread - but in my family I've always heard it > pronounced as Whale - y with the y at the end pronounced as a second E > would be in a word. I agree. All the Whaleys I've ever known in the U.S. pronounce it that way. > Diverging just slightly, has anyone seen the surname Whalen as variation of > Whaley? > > Tim Not by me... To clarify, and perhaps to fudge my answer a little, in all of my various research-related contacts over the years, the name Whalen appears frequently. I'm not sure whether that's simply because in a phone book it lies in close proximity, or that it's a small jump from Whalen to Whaley, from any standpoint. In sum, I don't recall having read that any Whalen family members have claimed family ties with a Whaley, or vice versa. On the other hand, I have read about the almost interchangeability between family names that contain the letters W, H, A, L, E and Y, in single or double consonants and with or without the H or Y. Frequently and in the same breath! We Whaleys, collectively, have spelled our name various ways, all in the same extended family, as I've mentioned several times over the years, depending solely on the whim of any given Whaley family member who simply decides to spell HIS or HER name differently. But, among all the variously (and creatively!) spelled Whaleys, I've never encountered a Whalen in the mix... But, that's just my observations! ;-) keith whaley