Ralegh or Raleigh?

The most common popular spelling of Sir Walter’s surname in recent times has been Raleigh, despite the fact that he never signed his name that way and the spelling Ralegh has been used by biographers and scholars since the 18th century. William Stebbing, in his biography of Ralegh published in 1899, listed the numerous variant spellings in Sir Walter’s lifetime, not only the familiar Ralegh and Raleigh but also, among others, Rawley, Raulie, Raleghe, Rawlighe, Rawleighe, Raughleigh, Rawle, Raligh and Rawley. This was a time before orthography for surnames became standardised and when many attempts were made to spell phonetically. Ralegh’s early signatures included the more phonetic Rauley, but from 1584 he only ever used Ralegh as a signature and in his books. One of those was his Historie of the World, in which his preferred spelling can be seen on the title page reproduced here.