2000
#147,095
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 103
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Bryarly
A locational surname derived from a place name meaning "the bright clearing" or "open glade".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 119 Americans carry the last name Bryarly. That puts it at #153,590 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,880,289 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Bryarly surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
119
1 in 2,880,289
Census rank
#153,590
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
104
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 104 bearers of the surname Bryarly in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 153590th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Bryarly, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Bryarly
The surname Bryarly originated in England during the late 16th century. It is derived from the Old English words "bry" meaning a brush or thicket, and "erle" meaning a plot of cultivated land. This suggests that the name initially referred to someone who lived near or owned a brushy or overgrown field.
Earliest recorded examples of the Bryarly surname can be found in parish records from Lincolnshire and Yorkshire dating back to the late 1500s. Variations in spelling included Bryerley, Briarly, and Bryerlie. Some of the earliest known bearers of this name were Thomas Bryerly, born in 1587 in Howden, Yorkshire, and John Bryerlie, whose birth was recorded in 1593 in Grantham, Lincolnshire.
In the Domesday Book of 1086, there are several references to places with names similar to Bryarly, such as Bryerscroft in Nottinghamshire and Bryerley in Derbyshire. These place names likely influenced the development of the surname in those regions.
Notable individuals with the Bryarly surname throughout history include:
1. William Bryarly (1612-1678), a prominent merchant and landowner in Bristol, England.
2. Sarah Bryarly (1674-1732), an early American settler who arrived in Pennsylvania from England in 1698.
3. Robert Bryarly (1795-1867), a British engineer and inventor known for his contributions to early steam engine design.
4. Elizabeth Bryarly (1820-1892), a renowned painter and portraitist from Yorkshire, whose works are held in several British art galleries.
5. James Bryarly (1845-1923), an English explorer and naturalist who documented numerous species in the Amazon rainforest of South America.
While the Bryarly name has remained relatively uncommon throughout its history, it has endured for over four centuries and can be traced back to its rural English origins in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bryarly
Among Census respondents with the surname Bryarly, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Bryarly bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Bryarly surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White94.2% · 98
- Two or more races4.8% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Bryarly
Bryarly appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#148,347
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 111
+8 bearers (+7.8%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 1,252 places
2020
#153,590
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 104
-7 bearers (-6.3%)
Per 100,000 0.03
Rank movement Down 5,243 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #147,095 | 103 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #148,347 | 111 | 0.04 | +8 bearers (+7.8%) | Down 1,252 places |
| 2020 | #153,590 | 104 | 0.03 | -7 bearers (-6.3%) | Down 5,243 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Bryarly surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #148,347 | #153,590 | -3.5% |
| Count | 111 | 104 | -6.3% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.03 | -13.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Bryarly bearers went from 111 to 104 (-6.3% change). The surname moved down 5,243 positions in the national ranking, going from #148,347 to #153,590.
FAQ
Bryarly surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Bryarly?
Name Census estimates that about 119 living Americans carry the surname Bryarly. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,880,289 residents.
How common is Bryarly?
Bryarly ranks #153,590 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 104 people with the surname Bryarly. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (119), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.03 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.03 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Bryarly.
Has Bryarly become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Bryarly went from 111 recorded bearers to 104. That is a decrease of 7 (-6.3%). In the national ranking it fell from #148,347 to #153,590.
What does the Census say about the background of Bryarly?
Among Census respondents with the surname Bryarly, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.0%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Bryarly in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.2% (98 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Bryarly appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (94.2%), Two or More Races (4.8%), Asian/Pacific Islander (1.0%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Bryarly (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Bryarly mean?
A locational surname derived from a place name meaning "the bright clearing" or "open glade". The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Bryarly (0.03 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How common is the surname Bryarly?
Find out how many people have the surname Bryarly on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.