Expert: Thomas H McIntyre - 11/1/2008

Question
my name is  scott kerlee and our family settled north carolina, our family says were scottish, how can I prove this ??? thanks  scott

Answer
  Hi Scott, thanks for the question.  Your surname certainly has Gaelic roots.  Kerlee, Curley, Kirley, McCurley, MacCorley are all Anglicized forms of the Gaelic name "MacThoirdealbhoigh" meaning shape of (God of Thunder). Most of the Kerleys seem to have settled around Galway and Roscommon in Ireland.  The earliest Kerley I can find is Sysley Kerley whose christening was dated Feb 18th, 1569 in St Andrew, London, England.  The earliest in Scotland I can find is Agness Kerlie in Dairy, Ayr, Scotland in 1820.  
 Offhand without hiring me as your genealogist you could start researching your family genealogy taking notes from your family and researching census and immigration records.  There is certainly some genealogist in your area that help you get started.  Good luck in your research.
Thomas McIntyre