Find out how popular the last name Bentley is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Bentley.

Bentley, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Bentley surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Bentley in America

Bentley is the 862nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Bentley surname appeared 40,193 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 14 people would have the surname Bentley.

We can also compare 2010 data for Bentley to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Bentley

The surname Bentley originated in England and dates back to the medieval era. It is a locational name derived from various places in the counties of Derbyshire, Staffordshire, and Yorkshire, whose names were composed of the Old English elements "beonet" meaning "bent grass" and "leah" meaning "woodland clearing" or "meadow."

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as "Benedleia" in Derbyshire. This entry likely refers to the modern town of Bentley, located near Doncaster in South Yorkshire.

In the 13th century, the name was documented in various spellings such as Benitlegh, Benetlehe, and Benetleye, reflecting the evolving pronunciation and orthography of the time.

One notable historical figure with the surname Bentley was Thomas Bentley (c. 1731-1780), an English actor and dramatist who is credited with introducing the character of Macheath in John Gay's "The Beggar's Opera" to the American stage during a tour in 1768.

Another prominent individual was Richard Bentley (1662-1742), an English classical scholar and critic who served as the Master of Trinity College, Cambridge. He is renowned for his influential work in textual criticism, particularly his editions of ancient Greek and Latin texts.

In the 19th century, John Bentley (1809-1902) was a distinguished English botanist and horticulturist who made significant contributions to the study of plant taxonomy and classification. He served as the Secretary of the Royal Horticultural Society and published numerous works on British flora.

The surname Bentley is also associated with the automotive industry, with Walter Owen Bentley (1888-1971) being the founder of the luxury car brand Bentley Motors. Born in London, he established the company in 1919 and oversaw the production of high-performance automobiles until the company's acquisition by Rolls-Royce in 1931.

Another noteworthy figure is Phyllis Bentley (1894-1977), an English novelist and travel writer known for her works set in the Yorkshire Dales region, where she grew up. Her novels, such as "Inheritance" and "The Spinning Wheel," explored themes of social class and the impact of industrialization on rural communities.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Bentley

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Bentley.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Bentley was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Bentley has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Bentley was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Bentley, please contact us.

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