Worsley Surname

54,005th
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 9,437 people bear this surname

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

Worsley Surname Definition:

This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'of Worsley,' a parish near Manchester. But the instances below seem to suggest other small localities in South England. The Lancashire and Cheshire Worsleys, however, hail from the above, and have strongly ramified.

Read More About This Surname

Worsley Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England4,1241:13,5111,992
United States2,8531:127,04513,467
Australia9531:28,3273,848
Canada6141:60,0097,069
New Zealand2961:15,2982,660
South Africa1641:330,35230,898
Wales1421:21,7922,311
Scotland901:59,4874,887
Ecuador191:837,15013,424
France191:3,495,933219,029
Sweden191:518,25037,550
Thailand181:3,924,352328,346
Zimbabwe151:1,029,21663,831
Germany151:5,367,031196,901
Singapore131:423,66918,211
Northern Ireland131:141,9267,751
Isle of Man91:9,5362,057
Spain91:5,194,67182,436
United Arab Emirates81:1,145,28440,289
Norway51:1,028,45761,363
Croatia41:1,057,15157,892
Italy41:15,289,172132,955
Guernsey41:16,1101,225
Pakistan31:59,547,962132,569
Switzerland31:2,737,638105,941
Malaysia21:14,747,112316,340
Cyprus21:442,4389,493
Greece21:5,539,895129,142
Hong Kong21:3,667,74211,574
India11:767,065,3821,851,717
Qatar11:2,357,99976,403
Trinidad and Tobago11:1,363,97522,013
Philippines11:101,238,223404,861
Mauritius11:1,293,41716,552
United States Virgin Islands11:110,3756,934
Malta11:430,2723,380
Costa Rica11:4,780,06913,345
British Virgin Islands11:31,5941,029
Brazil11:214,074,3321,693,628
Antigua and Barbuda11:99,1712,137
Luxembourg11:580,54215,155
Ireland11:4,708,93929,543
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Ireland71:632,83819,259
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England2,6051:9,3571,405
Scotland171:220,1897,953
Wales171:92,2604,121
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States4441:113,10511,218

Worsley (15) may also be a first name.

Worsley Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'of Worsley,' a parish near Manchester. But the instances below seem to suggest other small localities in South England. The Lancashire and Cheshire Worsleys, however, hail from the above, and have strongly ramified.

John de Wereslle, Huntingdonshire, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Alan de Weresle, Cambridgeshire, ibid.

Robert de Weresl, Suffolk, ibid.

1571. James Worselye, Dorset: Reg. Univ. Oxf-.

1593. Ottiwell Worsley, of Barton, Manchester: Wills at Chester.

1618. Ellen Worsley, of Pendleton, Manchester: ibid.

1622. William Stane and Bridget Worsley: Marriage Lic. (London).

1630. Thomas Worseley and Elizabeth Bosvile: ibid.

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

(English) belonging to Worsley [Old English leáh, a meadow] The chief source of the name in North. England is Worsley, nr. Manchester, which occurs in post-Conquest records in a profusion of forms, the most illuminating being: 14th-15th cent. Workesley, Workes- legh, 13th cent. Workeslegh, Workedeley, Werkedley, Wirkedley, Workedeslegh, late- 12th cent. Werkesleia (Latinized form), showing that the name was anciently used indifferently with or without the genit. -es, and with or without -id, repr. Middle English heved [Old English heáfod], ‘head,’ -top,’ ‘high ground’; the signification being therefore, acc. to the spelling, (a) ‘the Lea of the Work or Fortification’ [Old English ge)weorc]; (b) ‘ the Lea of the Head or High Ground Of the Work or Fortification.’ Worsley (Abberley), Worc., occurs in the 13th-14th cent. as Werwesle, Woruesle, Weruesleye, pointing to an Anglo-Saxon *Wcer- wardesleáh, ‘Wærward’s Lea’ [the pers. name is a compound of Old English wœr, true, and w(e)ard, ward, guardian].

In the 13th-cent. Hundred-Rolls for various East-Midland and Eastern counties we find the local surname ‘de Weresle'; and a Wæresleáh (Waer’s Lea) ' occurs in an early-9th-cent. worc. (Sal- warpe) charter—‘Cart. Sax.’ no. 361.

Surnames of the United Kingdom (1912) by Henry Harrison

A manor and township in Lancashire, formerly written Workesley, where the family are said to have resided temp. William I. Sir Elias de Workesley joined the first Crusade with Robert, Duke of Normandy. Burke's Ext. Barts.

Patronymica Britannica (1860) by Mark Antony Lower

A location name in Lancashire.

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

The Worsleys of Worsley, a distinguished family, carry their pedigree back to the times of the Crusades, when they possessed the manor of Worsley. In the reign of Henry VIII. there was a branch of the family at Worsley Meyne, Wigan, and another branch at Manchester, from which are descended the Worsleys of Withington: Sir Robert Worseley was deputy - lieutenant of the county in the reign of Elizabeth (B.). James and Richard Worseley were two Lancashire gentlemen who contributed £25 apiece to the Armada fund in 1588 (Sp.).

Homes of Family Names in Great Britain (1890) by Henry Brougham Guppy

Worsley Last Name Facts

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

The last name Worsley (Arabic: رسلى) has its highest incidence in England. It may be found as:. For other possible spellings of this last name click here.

How Common Is The Last Name Worsley? popularity and diffusion

Worsley is the 54,005th most commonly held last name on a global scale. It is borne by approximately 1 in 772,231 people. The surname is predominantly found in Europe, where 47 percent of Worsley live; 47 percent live in Northern Europe and 46 percent live in British Isles. Worsley is also the 2,900,335th most widespread first name globally It is held by 15 people.

The surname is most frequent in England, where it is borne by 4,124 people, or 1 in 13,511. In England Worsley is most prevalent in: Greater Manchester, where 22 percent live, Greater London, where 10 percent live and West Yorkshire, where 6 percent live. Other than England Worsley exists in 41 countries. It is also common in The United States, where 30 percent live and Australia, where 10 percent live.

Worsley Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The frequency of Worsley has changed through the years. In England the share of the population with the surname expanded 158 percent between 1881 and 2014; in The United States it expanded 643 percent between 1880 and 2014; in Wales it expanded 835 percent between 1881 and 2014; in Scotland it expanded 529 percent between 1881 and 2014 and in Ireland it fell 86 percent between 1901 and 2014.

Worsley Last Name Statistics demography

The religious adherence of those bearing the surname is principally Catholic (100%) in Ireland.

In The United States those holding the Worsley surname are 4.53% more likely to be registered Democrats than the national average, with 57.76% registered to vote for the political party.

The amount Worsley earn in different countries varies notably. In Norway they earn 8.63% more than the national average, earning 375,954 kr per year; in South Africa they earn 18.8% more than the national average, earning R 282,324 per year; in United States they earn 6.07% less than the national average, earning $40,528 USD per year and in Canada they earn 4.77% more than the national average, earning $52,053 CAD per year.

Phonetically Similar Names

SurnameSimilarityWorldwide IncidencePrevalency
Wordsley932/
Wworsley931/
Whorsley931/
Woorsley930/
Worsly925/
Worsle920/
Borsley8625/
Warsley8622/
Wersley864/
Worslay862/
Worslet861/
Worsler860/
Worchley802/
Wourzley801/
Woorzley800/
Wersly772/
Borsle772/
Woorsluys754/
Bursley71463/
Barsley71314/
Versley7120/
Warslie713/
Boursle711/
Varsley711/
Vorsler711/
Borselle6768/
Wourzlay676/
Bourslee674/
Borsille674/
Bourslya672/
Barrsley671/
Warszler671/
Vorselle671/
Wurzsler671/
Warshler670/

Worsley Name Transliterations

TransliterationICU LatinPercentage of Incidence
Worsley in the Arabic language
رسلىrsly-
رسليrsly-

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 Worsley
  • 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