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

Feeley, 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 Feeley surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Feeley in America

Feeley is the 8084th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Feeley surname appeared 4,101 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 Feeley.

We can also compare 2010 data for Feeley 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 Feeley

The surname Feeley is of Irish origin, derived from the Gaelic name O'Failbhe, which means "descendant of the generous one." The name can be traced back to the ancient Irish territory of Meath, where it was first recorded in the 12th century.

One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name was Dermot O'Feeley, a chieftain who lived in the 13th century and was mentioned in the Annals of the Four Masters, a chronicle of medieval Irish history. The name is also found in the Fiants of the Tudor Sovereigns, a collection of official documents from the 16th century.

Over time, the name evolved from its original Gaelic form to various English spellings, including Feely, Feelay, and Feeley. This was a common occurrence as Irish names were anglicized during the English conquest of Ireland.

The name Feeley is associated with several notable individuals throughout history, including:

1. Michael Feeley (1857-1932), an Irish-American labor leader and politician who served as the 52nd Mayor of New Haven, Connecticut.

2. John Feeley (1880-1947), an Irish-American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the Bishop of Lubbock, Texas.

3. Charles Feeley (1921-2011), an American journalist and war correspondent who covered World War II and the Vietnam War for various news organizations.

4. Patrick Feeley (born 1964), an Irish businessman and entrepreneur who co-founded the software company Cartesian.

5. Terrence Feeley (born 1947), an American artist and sculptor known for his large-scale public artworks and installations.

The name Feeley has also been associated with various place names in Ireland, such as Feeleyfad and Feeleybeg, which are townlands in County Leitrim and County Fermanagh, respectively. These place names likely derived from the surname, reflecting the historical presence of the Feeley family in these areas.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Feeley

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

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

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

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