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

Dailey, 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 Dailey surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Dailey in America

Dailey is the 1072nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Dailey surname appeared 32,719 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 Dailey.

We can also compare 2010 data for Dailey 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 Dailey

The surname Dailey is of Irish origin, deriving from the Gaelic word "Dálaigh" meaning "descendant of the fosterer". It is believed to have originated in the 10th century in County Westmeath, Ireland.

The name is thought to have evolved from the Old Irish personal name "Dálach", which was derived from the word "dáil" meaning "foster child" or "foster son". The Daileys were a prominent Irish clan who held lands in Westmeath and were known as skilled poets and scholars.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name appears in the Annals of Ulster, a chronicle of medieval Irish history, which mentions a Dailey poet named Gilla na Naem Ua Dalaigh who died in 1064. The name is also found in the Annals of the Four Masters, another important medieval Irish text, which references several members of the Dailey clan in the 14th and 15th centuries.

In the 16th century, the Dailey surname began to appear in English records as Irish immigrants settled in England and Wales. One notable early bearer of the name was Richard Dailey, a merchant from County Westmeath who was active in London in the late 16th century.

During the Plantation of Ulster in the early 17th century, many Daileys were dispossessed of their lands in Westmeath and relocated to other parts of Ireland. Some members of the clan also emigrated to other parts of Europe and the Americas during this period.

Among the notable Daileys in history are:

1. Muirchertach Ua Dálaigh (fl. 1140s), an Irish poet and chief ollamh (head poet) of Ireland.
2. Gofraidh Fionn Ó Dálaigh (c. 1320-1387), an Irish poet and historian.
3. John Dailey (c. 1785-1853), an Irish-American political leader and merchant in Philadelphia.
4. Michael Dailey (1796-1868), an Irish-American Catholic priest and author.
5. Rufus Dailey (1834-1907), an American lawyer and politician who served as a U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania.

The Dailey surname continues to be found predominantly in Ireland, particularly in Counties Westmeath, Longford, and Meath, as well as in Irish diaspora communities around the world.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Dailey

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

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

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

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