Hobley

Hobley is a surname.

A possible meaning is "The little people from the meadow", derived from a combination of the words "hob" and "ley". In Middle English, the word "hob" means a hobgoblin, sprite, or elf, and "ley" is a grassy meadow.

Despite the spelling, the name is pronounced with an "obb" not an "obe". This is probably because it is a combination of two words, and the pronunciation has not changed as the words have combined.

Notable people with the name include:

• Amelia Dyer (1837–1896; née Hobley), English serial killer and baby farmer
• Charles William Hobley (1867–1947), pioneering British colonial administrator in Kenya
• Hannah Hobley (born 1988), British actress and singer
• John William Dixon Hobley (1929–1993), British lawyer, Attorney General of Bermuda and then Hong Kong
• Liffort Hobley (born 1962), American football player (born 1962)
• McDonald Hobley (1917–1987), British actor, early television announcer, presenter and commentator
• Pamela Hobley, American teenager who disappeared in 1969
• Peter Hobley Davison (1926–2002), British professor of English
• Tina Hobley (born 1971), British television actress and radio presenter

• Anthene hobleyi, also known as the Hobley's hairtail