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

Carnley, 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 Carnley surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Carnley in America

Carnley is the 15449th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Carnley surname appeared 1,896 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Carnley.

We can also compare 2010 data for Carnley 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 Carnley

The surname Carnley has its origins in England, first appearing in records during the late medieval period. It is believed to be a locational name, derived from a place called Carnley or a similar spelling in one of the northern counties of England. The name may stem from the Old English words "carn" meaning a cairn or rocky hill, and "leah" meaning a meadow or clearing, suggesting it referred to a meadow near a rocky hill.

One of the earliest known records of the Carnley name appears in the Feet of Fines for Yorkshire from 1486, which mentions a John Carneley. The Feet of Fines were legal documents recording land transactions, indicating that members of the Carnley family were landowners in Yorkshire at that time.

In the 16th century, the Carnley surname can be found in various parish records across northern England, particularly in Yorkshire and Lancashire. One notable bearer of the name was William Carnley, born in 1563 in Wensleydale, Yorkshire, who was a respected clergyman and author of several religious texts.

The Carnley name also appeared in the Hearth Tax Rolls of the late 17th century, which recorded households and their taxable hearths. Entries for Carnley families can be found in counties like Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Westmorland, suggesting the name was well-established in this region.

In the 18th century, a prominent Carnley was John Carnley (1703-1778), a successful merchant and landowner based in Lancashire. His wealth and influence allowed him to acquire significant estates in the area.

Another notable individual with the Carnley surname was Samuel Carnley (1832-1908), a 19th-century English industrialist and philanthropist. He made his fortune in the coal mining industry and used his wealth to support various charitable causes in his hometown of Newcastle upon Tyne.

While the Carnley name has its roots in northern England, it has since spread to other parts of the United Kingdom and beyond, with bearers of the surname found in various parts of the world today.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Carnley

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

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 Carnley 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 Carnley 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 Carnley was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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