Thorneley Surname

2,979,664th
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 43 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
England
Highest density in:
Luxembourg

Thorneley Surname Definition:

This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'of Thornley,' a township in the parish of Kelloe, County Durham; also a township in the parish of Chipping, Lancashire. Probably many small spots bore this name.

1581. John Thornelie, Cheshire: Register of the University of Oxford.

Read More About This Surname

Thorneley Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England301:1,857,26974,552
United States71:51,779,848968,877
Australia51:5,399,140162,351
Luxembourg11:580,54215,155
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England201:1,218,76844,985
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States111:4,565,335193,764

Thorneley Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'of Thornley,' a township in the parish of Kelloe, County Durham; also a township in the parish of Chipping, Lancashire. Probably many small spots bore this name.

1581. John Thornelie, Cheshire: Register of the University of Oxford.

1588-9. Thomas Thorneley and Johanna Longe: Marriage Lic (London).

1662. Richard Thornley, of Chipping: Lancashire Wills at Richmond.

1675. Thomas Thornley, of Chipping: ibid.

A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (1896) by Charles Wareing Endell Bardsley

(English) belonging to Thornley; or Dweller at the Thorn-Lea [Old English pom + leáh (Middle English ley, lay] But the 13th-cent. forms of the Lanc. Thornley, Thornedelegh and Thornedeley, show that the meaning here is Thorn- Head Lea [Old English heáfod, head, high ground, upper part]

Surnames of the United Kingdom (1912) by Henry Harrison

User-submitted Reference

Members of the Thornley family also went to Jamaica. Richard and Ralph Bower (christening record says Boore) Thornley, sons of Captain Thomas Thornley (Thorneley) of Glossop, who eventually moved to Ireland, went to Jamaica and settled in the paris of Vere. Ralph died without issue. Ralph has many descendants. Most of have migrated to the US and Canada and some migrated to England in the 1800s

- anonymous submission

Thorneley Last Name Facts

Where Does The Last Name Thorneley Come From? nationality or country of origin

The last name Thorneley is held by more people in England than any other country/territory. It can also appear as a variant:. For other possible spellings of Thorneley click here.

How Common Is The Last Name Thorneley? popularity and diffusion

The surname Thorneley is the 2,979,664th most commonly held surname world-wide It is held by around 1 in 169,477,812 people. The surname is predominantly found in Europe, where 72 percent of Thorneley live; 70 percent live in Northern Europe and 70 percent live in British Isles.

The surname is most commonly occurring in England, where it is held by 30 people, or 1 in 1,857,269. In England Thorneley is most common in: Greater Manchester, where 50 percent are found, Norfolk, where 20 percent are found and Devon, where 17 percent are found. Barring England this last name occurs in 3 countries. It is also found in The United States, where 16 percent are found and Australia, where 12 percent are found.

Thorneley Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The prevalency of Thorneley has changed over time. In England the number of people who held the Thorneley last name increased 150 percent between 1881 and 2014 and in The United States it contracted 36 percent between 1880 and 2014.

Thorneley Last Name Statistics demography

In The United States those holding the Thorneley surname are 53.23% more likely to be registered Republicans than the national average, with 100% being registered with the party.

Thorneley earn a lot less than the average income. In United States they earn 36.27% less than the national average, earning $27,500 USD per year.

Phonetically Similar Names

Search for Another Surname

The name statistics are still in development, sign up for information on more maps and data

By signing up to the mailing list you will only receive emails specifically about name reference on Forebears and your information will not be distributed to 3rd parties.

Footnotes

  • Surnames are taken as the first part of an person's inherited family name, caste, clan name or in some cases patronymic
  • Descriptions may contain details on the name's etymology, origin, ethnicity and history. They are largely reproduced from 3rd party sources; diligence is advised on accepting their validity - more information
  • Name distribution statistics are generated from a global database of over 4 billion people - more information
  • Heatmap: Dark red means there is a higher occurrence of the name, transitioning to light yellow signifies a progressively lower occurrence. Clicking on selected countries will show mapping at a regional level
  • Rank: Name are ranked by incidence using the ordinal ranking method; the name that occurs the most is assigned a rank of 1; name that occur less frequently receive an incremented rank; if two or more name occur the same number of times they are assigned the same rank and successive rank is incremented by the total preceeding names
  • Ethnic group cannot necessarily be determined by geographic occurrence
  • Similar: Names listed in the "Similar" section are phonetically similar and may not have any relation to Thorneley
  • To find out more about this surname's family history, lookup records on Family​Search, My​Heritage, FindMyPast and Ancestry. Further information may be obtained by DNA analysis