The surname Kurey has its origins in the Slavic regions of Eastern Europe, specifically in the areas that now comprise modern-day Ukraine and Russia. It is believed to have emerged during the medieval period, sometime between the 11th and 13th centuries.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in a 13th-century document from the Principality of Galicia-Volhynia, which mentions a nobleman named Yuri Kurey. This suggests that the name may have initially been a patronymic, derived from a given name or a nickname.

In the 15th century, the name appeared in various records from the Grand Duchy of Moscow, indicating that individuals bearing the surname had spread to other parts of the Slavic lands. One notable example is Ivan Kurey, a merchant and landowner who lived in the city of Novgorod during the mid-1400s.

The name Kurey is thought to be derived from the Old East Slavic word "kur," which meant "rooster" or "cock." It is possible that the name originated as a nickname or a descriptive term for someone with a particular physical characteristic or personality trait associated with a rooster, such as being boisterous, cocky, or strutting.

In the 16th century, the name appeared in various legal documents and chronicles from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which controlled parts of modern-day Ukraine and Belarus at the time. One such mention is of Andrei Kurey, a minor noble from the region of Volhynia, who was involved in a land dispute in the year 1548.

Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, the Kurey surname continued to be found in various regions of the Russian Empire, including the provinces of Smolensk, Tver, and Novgorod. Notable individuals from this period include Fyodor Kurey, a Cossack leader who participated in the Russian-Turkish wars of the late 17th century, and Mikhail Kurey, a merchant and philanthropist from the city of Tver, who lived in the mid-1700s.

As the Russian Empire expanded and incorporated more territories, the Kurey surname spread to other parts of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. In the 19th century, there are records of individuals with this name living in areas such as modern-day Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Over the centuries, the surname Kurey has undergone various spelling variations, including Kurei, Kuryev, and Kuriev. While the name is most commonly associated with Slavic cultures, it has also been adopted by people of other ethnicities and nationalities, particularly in regions where there has been significant cultural and linguistic exchange.