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

Hadley, 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 Hadley surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Hadley in America

Hadley is the 1653rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Hadley surname appeared 21,771 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 7 people would have the surname Hadley.

We can also compare 2010 data for Hadley 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 Hadley

The surname Hadley is of Anglo-Saxon origin, derived from an Old English locational name meaning "the heathy clearing" or "the heather-covered meadow". It is composed of the elements "hæth" (heath) and "leah" (meadow or clearing).

The name is believed to have originated in the county of Shropshire, England, where several places bear the name Hadley. One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which mentions a landowner named Ailric de Haddeleie in Shropshire.

During the Middle Ages, the name was often spelled in various ways, including Hadeleye, Haddelegh, and Hadleigh, reflecting the regional dialects and scribal variations of the time.

One notable figure bearing the Hadley surname was John Hadley (1682-1744), an English mathematician and inventor who is best known for developing the octant, a precursor to the sextant used in navigation.

Another prominent individual with this surname was Stephen Hadley (c. 1592-1660), an English politician who served as a Member of Parliament and was a supporter of the Parliamentary cause during the English Civil War.

In the United States, one of the earliest known bearers of the Hadley surname was George Hadley (1685-1768), an English lawyer and meteorologist who developed the theory of atmospheric circulation now known as the Hadley Cell.

The name Hadley has also been associated with several places in the United States, such as Hadley, Massachusetts, founded in 1659 and named after the town of Hadleigh in Suffolk, England.

Other notable individuals with the Hadley surname include Henry Hetherington Hadley (1871-1937), an American composer and conductor, and Herbert Hadley (1863-1937), an American lawyer and politician who served as the 25th Governor of Missouri.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Hadley

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

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

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

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