The English surname Hatley is of locative origin. The name derives from the village of Cockayne Hatley in Bedfordshire, or from either East Hatley or Hatley St. George recorded in Cambridgeshire from the 11th Century. The three “Hatley’s”  were situated close together on an elevated piece of land, and the first element derives from the Old English hatt meaning “top of the hill,” and leah, meaning “a farm or enclosure.” The first recorded spelling of the family name in church registers is belived to be that of John Hatley. This was dated January 23rd 1541, when he married Agnes Barlow at Grantchester, Cambridgeshire.