2000
#2,801
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 11,772
First available Census row
Per 100,000 4.36
Uncommon Last name
Curley
Derived from the Old French "curlé" or "corleis," meaning curly-haired.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 13,313 Americans carry the last name Curley. That puts it at #3,027 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 3.88 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 25,746 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Curley 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.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Curley with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
13K
1 in 25,746
Census rank
#3,027
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
3.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
12K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 11,610 bearers of the surname Curley in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 3.88 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 3027th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Curley, the largest self-reported group is White at 69.4%. The next largest groups are American Indian/Alaska Native (15.7%) and Black (7.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Curley
The surname Curley is of Irish origin and has its roots in the Gaelic name Ó Coirighe, which translates to "descendant of Coirighe." The name Coirighe itself is derived from the Irish word "corrach," meaning "small and withered" or "curly-haired." This suggests that the earliest bearers of this surname may have had curly hair or a small, withered appearance.
The Curley name can be traced back to County Mayo, Ireland, where it was most prevalent in the baronies of Carra, Erris, and Gallen. The name is also found in counties Sligo, Roscommon, and Galway. The earliest recorded instances of the name date back to the 16th and 17th centuries, with variations in spelling such as Curely, Curly, and Curlie.
Historical records show that the Curley surname appeared in the Annals of the Four Masters, a chronicle of medieval Irish history compiled in the early 17th century. The name is also mentioned in the Fiants of the Tudor Sovereigns, a collection of documents from the reigns of Henry VIII and his successors.
One notable bearer of the Curley surname was Edmond Curley (1673-1747), an Irish Franciscan friar and historian who wrote a history of the Irish province of the Franciscan Order. Another was John Curley (1826-1903), an Irish-born American politician who served as mayor of Boston, Massachusetts, from 1899 to 1900.
Other historical figures with the Curley surname include James Michael Curley (1874-1958), an American politician who served as the 49th Governor of Massachusetts and four-time mayor of Boston; Curley Culp (born 1946), an American professional football player and member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame; and Michael Curley (1879-1972), an Australian politician who served as a member of the Australian House of Representatives.
The Curley name has also been associated with several place names in Ireland, such as Curley's Hill in County Mayo and Curley's Cross in County Galway. These place names likely derived from individuals or families with the Curley surname who lived in or owned land in those areas.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Curley
Among Census respondents with the surname Curley, the largest self-reported group is White at 69.4%. The next largest groups are American Indian/Alaska Native (15.7%) and Black (7.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Curley 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 Curley surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White69.4% · 8,053
- American Indian and Alaska Native15.7% · 1,818
- Black or African American7.6% · 885
- Two or more races3.4% · 396
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 368
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 90
Timeline
Historical Census data for Curley
Curley 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
#2,936
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 12,211
+439 bearers (+3.7%)
Per 100,000 4.14
Rank movement Down 135 places
2020
#3,027
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 11,610
-601 bearers (-4.9%)
Per 100,000 3.88
Rank movement Down 91 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #2,801 | 11,772 | 4.36 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #2,936 | 12,211 | 4.14 | +439 bearers (+3.7%) | Down 135 places |
| 2020 | #3,027 | 11,610 | 3.88 | -601 bearers (-4.9%) | Down 91 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 Curley 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 | #2,936 | #3,027 | -3.1% |
| Count | 12,211 | 11,610 | -4.9% |
| Per 100K | 4.14 | 3.88 | -6.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Curley bearers went from 12,211 to 11,610 (-4.9% change). The surname moved down 91 positions in the national ranking, going from #2,936 to #3,027.
FAQ
Curley surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Curley?
Name Census estimates that about 13,313 living Americans carry the surname Curley. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 25,746 residents.
How common is Curley?
Curley ranks #3,027 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 3.88 per 100,000 residents, which is about 4 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 11,610 people with the surname Curley. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (13,313), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 3.88 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 3.88 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 4 of them to have the surname Curley.
Has Curley become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Curley went from 12,211 recorded bearers to 11,610. That is a decrease of 601 (-4.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #2,936 to #3,027.
What does the Census say about the background of Curley?
Among Census respondents with the surname Curley, the largest self-reported group is White at 69.4%. The next largest groups are American Indian/Alaska Native (15.7%) and Black (7.6%). 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 Curley in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.4% (8,053 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Curley appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (69.4%), American Indian/Alaska Native (15.7%), Black (7.6%). 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 Curley (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 Curley mean?
Derived from the Old French "curlé" or "corleis," meaning curly-haired. 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 Curley (3.88 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 many people have the surname Curley?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.