(origin: Sax. Local) From the town of Berkeley, in Gloucestershire, England, derived from the Saxon Beorce, a beech-tree, or the box-tree, and leagh or ley, a field, and so called because of the plenty of beech-trees there growing.

Arthur, William (1857) An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names. New York: Sheldon, Blakeman. Public Domain.

BERKELEY. Tliis noble race descend from Thos. de B., lord of Berkeley castle, CO. Gloucester, temp. Edw. I., and fifth in lineal succession from Harding, a Dane of royal blood, and one of the companions of William the Conqueror. Hence the name and title Fitz-Hardinge in connection with the family. Such is the statement of the Peerages, "though it is well ascertained," says a correspondent of Gent. Mag., June 1846, that the founders of the house, " Harding of Bristol, and his son Robert Fitz-Harding, were only burghers of that city." Sayers' Hist. Bristol.

Lower, Mark A (1860) Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom. London: J.R. Smith. Public Domain.