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

Earley, 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 Earley surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Earley in America

Earley is the 3518th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Earley surname appeared 10,140 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 3 people would have the surname Earley.

We can also compare 2010 data for Earley 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 Earley

The surname Earley is of English origin, derived from the Old English words "ēar" meaning "ear" and "lēah" meaning "clearing" or "meadow." It is likely that the name originated as a descriptive term referring to a person who lived in a meadow or clearing resembling the shape of an ear.

Earley is believed to have emerged as a surname in the 12th or 13th century, during the era of surname adoption in England. Some of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Hundred Rolls of Bedfordshire from 1273, which mention individuals named Erley and Arley.

The name is also found in various historical records, including the Pipe Rolls of Buckinghamshire from 1197, which reference a person named William de Erleye. This suggests that the name may have originated as a place name, possibly referring to a location called Earley or a similar variation.

In the 14th century, the name appeared in the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire in 1327, where a person named John Erley was listed. The Subsidy Rolls were tax records, indicating that the Earley surname was well-established by this time.

Notable individuals with the surname Earley throughout history include:

1. Robert Earley (c. 1490 - c. 1550), an English printer and publisher who worked in London during the reign of Henry VIII.

2. William Earley (1574 - 1635), an English politician who served as a Member of Parliament for Gloucestershire in the early 17th century.

3. John Earley (1610 - 1675), an English Puritan clergyman and author known for his religious writings and sermons.

4. Elizabeth Earley (1684 - 1757), an English landowner and philanthropist who made significant contributions to education and social welfare in Berkshire.

5. Thomas Earley (1762 - 1835), a British naval officer who served in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars and achieved the rank of Admiral.

It is worth noting that variations in spelling, such as Erley, Arley, and Erly, were common in earlier centuries due to inconsistencies in record-keeping and regional dialects.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Earley

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!