The Scottish and Irish surname Brownley is an ancient habitational name. The name was given to someone who came from the lands of Brownlee in the counties of Ayrshire and Lanarkshire in Scotland. The name was brought to Ireland in the 17th Century with the Plantation of Ulster and to this day is mainly found in the northern Irish province of Ulster. Today there are approximately 450 bearers of the last name Brownley living in the United States.