Townley Surname

50,200th
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 10,226 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
United States
Highest density in:
Northern Ireland

Townley Surname Definition:

This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'of Townley,' an ancient manor in Habergham Eaves, Burnley, Lancashire The place gave rise to a family of distinction in very early times. Richard de Townley was sheriff of Lancashire, 1376-1379.

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Townley Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States5,5591:65,2027,618
England3,0061:18,5362,652
Australia7211:37,4424,896
Canada2601:141,71414,582
New Zealand1881:24,0874,212
Northern Ireland1201:15,3752,088
Wales1161:26,6772,762
Ireland1001:47,0893,474
Scotland391:137,2778,372
South Africa281:1,934,91888,980
Germany111:7,318,678235,042
Spain91:5,194,67182,436
Chile71:2,516,63933,195
Thailand61:11,773,058553,295
France61:11,070,454349,096
Brazil51:42,814,866547,158
Switzerland51:1,642,58387,307
United Arab Emirates41:2,290,56860,372
Greece41:2,769,948101,568
Singapore41:1,376,92628,409
Costa Rica31:1,593,3568,177
Norway21:2,571,14395,402
Philippines21:50,619,112341,003
Zimbabwe21:7,719,120118,432
Netherlands21:8,443,588136,641
Malaysia21:14,747,112316,340
Czechia21:5,316,734169,646
Argentina11:42,743,414282,706
Antigua and Barbuda11:99,1712,137
Denmark11:5,644,71593,155
Bahamas11:391,7512,737
Belgium11:11,496,644167,539
Turks and Caicos Islands11:34,329862
Turkey11:77,821,422191,047
Ghana11:27,020,69223,742
Barbados11:287,4482,772
Japan11:127,844,29373,547
Israel11:8,557,634182,558
Isle of Man11:85,8224,091
Iceland11:380,09011,096
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Ireland1421:31,1963,100
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England1,8141:13,4372,027
Scotland541:69,3194,089
Wales291:54,0832,718
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States1,0201:49,2345,608

Townley (124) may also be a first name.

Townley Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'of Townley,' an ancient manor in Habergham Eaves, Burnley, Lancashire The place gave rise to a family of distinction in very early times. Richard de Townley was sheriff of Lancashire, 1376-1379. The surname is now scattered over the county, either through younger branches of the representative family or humbler stocks. Townley is simply a reversal of the syllables in Layton, or Leyton, or Leighton. Townley emphasizes the relation of the meadow to the farm, the others the relation of the farm to the meadow. Townley means the farm - meadow, the others the meadow-farm. v. Town and Ley.

Cecilia de Tonley, 1330: v. Baines' History Lancashire.

Johannes de Townlay, 1379: Poll Tax of Yorkshire.

1588. Bernard Townley, Lancashire: Register of the University of Oxford.

1618. Zouch Townley, Lancashire: ibid.

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

(English) Dweller at the Town (Village)-MEADOW[Middle Englisht(o)un, Old English tún+ Middle English ley, etc., Old English leáh] The Lanc. Towneley was Tounley, Tounlay, in the 14th cent.

Surnames of the United Kingdom (1912) by Henry Harrison

TOWNELEY: An estate in Lancashire, which belonged to this ancient and distinguished family, whose pedigree is said to be traced to the time of King Alfred, and to Spartlingus, first Dean of Whalley, who flourished about the year 896. The line of this personage terminated with an heiress, Cecilia of Towneley, in the XIV. century, who married John del Legh, and conveyed the estate to his family. He died in or about 1330, and his great-grandson resumed the ancient surname of Towneley. John del Legh was a cadet of the great Cheshire family of that name. B.L.G. Towneley Hall is still the seat of this race, who may well challenge comparison in point of venerable antiquity with any family in England.

Patronymica Britannica (1860) by Mark Antony Lower

A branch of the family of Venables (see Ormerod, Cheshire).

The Norman People (1874)

Townley Last Name Facts

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

Townley is held by more people in The United States than any other country or territory. It can also appear as a variant:. Click here for other possible spellings of this last name.

How Common Is The Last Name Townley? popularity and diffusion

The last name Townley is the 50,200th most widespread surname internationally. It is borne by approximately 1 in 712,649 people. The last name is primarily found in The Americas, where 53 percent of Townley are found; 53 percent are found in North America and 53 percent are found in Anglo-North America. Townley is also the 836,439th most common first name on earth. It is borne by 124 people.

This last name is most frequently used in The United States, where it is borne by 5,559 people, or 1 in 65,202. In The United States it is most prevalent in: Texas, where 13 percent live, Georgia, where 6 percent live and Florida, where 5 percent live. Excluding The United States this surname is found in 39 countries. It is also common in England, where 29 percent live and Australia, where 7 percent live.

Townley Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The incidence of Townley has changed through the years. In The United States the number of people who held the Townley surname increased 545 percent between 1880 and 2014; in England it increased 166 percent between 1881 and 2014; in Wales it increased 400 percent between 1881 and 2014; in Ireland it fell 30 percent between 1901 and 2014 and in Scotland it fell 28 percent between 1881 and 2014.

Townley Last Name Statistics demography

The religious adherence of those carrying the last name is primarily Presbyterian (39%) in Ireland.

In The United States those bearing the Townley last name are 20.81% more likely to be registered Republicans than the national average, with 67.58% registered with the political party.

The amount Townley earn in different countries varies greatly. In South Africa they earn 330.34% more than the national average, earning R 1,022,640 per year; in United States they earn 3.36% more than the national average, earning $44,598 USD per year and in Canada they earn 47.6% more than the national average, earning $73,332 CAD per year.

Phonetically Similar Names

SurnameSimilarityWorldwide IncidencePrevalency
Townleys931/
Townlley931/
Townly9248/
Townle926/
Townlay862/
Towenly861/
Tovnley861/
Townlee860/
Tawnley860/
Tewnley860/
Townleyová821/
Tawnelle671/
Tabinle578/
Toubenli535/
Thawinlap5022/

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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 Townley
  • 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