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

Cooley, 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 Cooley surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Cooley in America

Cooley is the 1054th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Cooley surname appeared 33,231 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 11 people would have the surname Cooley.

We can also compare 2010 data for Cooley 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 Cooley

The surname Cooley originated in England and traces back to the 13th century. It is derived from the Old English words "cu" meaning cow and "leah" meaning meadow or clearing, suggesting the name referred to someone who lived near a cow pasture or meadow.

One of the earliest known records of the name is in the Hundred Rolls of Huntingdonshire from 1273, which mentions a Hugo de Coueley. Other early spellings include Couley, Cowley, and Coweley.

The Domesday Book, compiled in 1086, does not contain any instances of the name Cooley, as it seems to have emerged later. However, it does record several places with similar names like Cowley in Oxfordshire and Cowleigh in Wiltshire, which could be related to the origin of the surname.

One of the first notable individuals with the name was Sir John Cooley (c. 1490-1556), an English landowner and member of parliament for Gloucestershire during the reign of Queen Mary I.

In the 17th century, Benjamin Cooley (1617-1684) was a prominent early settler of Springfield, Massachusetts, and one of the founders of the town of Longmeadow.

During the American Revolutionary War, Obadiah Cooley (1746-1826) served as a captain in the Continental Army and fought in several major battles.

In the literary world, James Cooley (1841-1906) was a British author and poet known for his works on rural life in Shropshire.

Another notable figure was William Forbes Cooley (1797-1876), an American educator and the first president of Muhlenberg College in Pennsylvania.

These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who bore the surname Cooley, which has its roots in the pastoral landscapes of medieval England.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Cooley

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

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

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

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