Messerly (surname)

Root
Swiss- "Messer" (german: knife), "li" (Swiss diminutive)

Variants

 * Messerli - Dominant spelling in Switzerland. In the 18th century Maesserli was a fashionable spelling, but prior to that, the spelling is again Messerli.
 * Messerley, Meserly- common typos or mistranscriptions
 * Messerle (Dutch), Mässerly- Alternate european spellings

Growth in the US
Exhaustive info may be found in Migrations: Messerli.

The first known Messerly in the US is Daniel Messerly (c1717) who arrived on the Ship Crown on 30 Aug 1749.

Census figures:
 * 0 (1790)
 * 1 (1800) Peter- (son of Daniel Messerly (c1717)) (York, PA)
 * 2 (1810) Abraham- (York), Jora (Rockingham, VA), 1 Benjn Messerle
 * 1 (1820) John "Messerley" (Rockingham, VA)
 * 6 (1830) Solomon (Rockingham), Daniel (York), George (Columbiana Co, OH), Nicolas (Fairfield Co, OH), Silas (Columbia Co, NY), Br Messerli (New Hanover, NC)
 * 9 (1840) Solomon, Daniel, George, Nicolas (same locations)