Thornley Surname

59,904th
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 8,417 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
England
Highest density in:
Isle of Man

Thornley 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.

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Thornley Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England3,8251:14,5672,150
United States2,7931:129,77413,685
Australia6181:43,6825,540
New Zealand4391:10,3151,790
Canada3821:96,45410,500
Wales761:40,7183,964
Scotland651:82,3666,014
South Africa631:859,96456,669
Ireland341:138,4986,546
Isle of Man241:3,576767
Jamaica151:191,3305,833
Thailand101:7,063,834426,148
Panama81:489,0328,962
Japan61:21,307,38248,838
Netherlands61:2,814,529101,176
France61:11,070,454349,096
Finland51:1,099,34045,512
Spain51:9,350,407109,555
Brazil41:53,518,583632,670
Germany41:20,126,365436,245
Czechia31:3,544,490144,714
United States Virgin Islands31:36,7924,502
Sweden31:3,282,252190,759
Jersey31:33,0674,675
Philippines21:50,619,112341,003
United Arab Emirates21:4,581,13693,443
Namibia21:1,204,70016,113
Malaysia21:14,747,112316,340
Hong Kong21:3,667,74211,574
Cyprus11:884,87613,055
Switzerland11:8,212,915156,297
Haiti11:10,683,90724,607
Fiji11:894,3914,568
Zimbabwe11:15,438,240133,260
Bahamas11:391,7512,737
Chile11:17,616,47493,597
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Ireland71:632,83819,259
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England3,3161:7,3511,141
Wales101:156,8426,008
Isle of Man21:27,1351,659
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States4171:120,42811,742

Thornley (58) may also be a first name.

Thornley 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

(English) One who came from Thornley (thorny glade), the name of places in Durham and Lancashire.

Dictionary of American Family Names (1956) by Elsdon Coles Smith

A location name in Lancashire.

British Family Names: Their Origin and Meaning (1903) by Henry Barber

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

Thornley Last Name Facts

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

The surname Thornley is held by more people in England than any other country/territory. It may occur in the variant forms:. For other potential spellings of Thornley click here.

How Common Is The Last Name Thornley? popularity and diffusion

The last name Thornley is the 59,904th most widely held last name worldwide, held by around 1 in 865,813 people. This surname is primarily found in Europe, where 48 percent of Thornley reside; 48 percent reside in Northern Europe and 48 percent reside in British Isles. Thornley is also the 1,295,729th most common forename internationally. It is borne by 58 people.

The last name is most commonly occurring in England, where it is held by 3,825 people, or 1 in 14,567. In England Thornley is most frequent in: Greater Manchester, where 21 percent are found, Lancashire, where 11 percent are found and Nottinghamshire, where 8 percent are found. Not including England this last name exists in 35 countries. It also occurs in The United States, where 33 percent are found and Australia, where 7 percent are found.

Thornley Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The occurrence of Thornley has changed through the years. In England the number of people who held the Thornley last name expanded 115 percent between 1881 and 2014; in The United States it expanded 670 percent between 1880 and 2014; in Wales it expanded 760 percent between 1881 and 2014 and in Ireland it expanded 486 percent between 1901 and 2014.

Thornley Last Name Statistics demography

The religious adherence of those holding the Thornley surname is primarily Presbyterian (57%) in Ireland.

In The United States those holding the Thornley last name are 19.23% more likely to be registered Republicans than The US average, with 66% being registered to vote for the party.

The amount Thornley earn in different countries varies markedly. In South Africa they earn 21.73% less than the national average, earning R 186,000 per year; in United States they earn 8.83% more than the national average, earning $46,957 USD per year and in Canada they earn 15.57% more than the national average, earning $57,418 CAD per year.

Phonetically Similar Names

Search for Another Surname

Thornley Reference & Research

Thorne/Thorn FamilyTree DNA Group - A group collating DNA test results for those who bear the surname, includes results of DNA tests and discussions.

Thorne/Thorn FamilyTree DNA Project - A description of a group researching the paternal lines of men who bear the surname with the help of DNA analysis.

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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 Thornley
  • 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