Huntley last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Huntley

An English locational surname derived from a place meaning "huntsman's woodland clearing."

Huntley, 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 Huntley surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Huntley in America

Huntley is the 2858th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Huntley surname appeared 12,614 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 4 people would have the surname Huntley.

We can also compare 2010 data for Huntley 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 2858 2715 5.13%
Count 12,614 12,175 3.54%
Proportion per 100k 4.28 4.51 -5.23%

The history of the last name Huntley

The surname Huntley originated in England, with the earliest recorded examples dating back to the 12th century. It is a locational name, derived from one of several places called Huntley or Huntly, located in various counties across England. The name itself is believed to be derived from the Old English words "hunt," meaning hunter, and "leah," meaning a woodland or clearing.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire from 1176, where a person named Robertus de Hunteleye is mentioned. Other early references include the Assize Rolls of Staffordshire in 1272, which mention a William de Hunteleye, and the Subsidy Rolls of Sussex from 1327, which record a John Huntele.

The Huntley surname is also found in several historical documents, such as the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears in various spellings like Huntelei and Huntelegh. This suggests that the name was well-established in England by the time of the Norman Conquest.

Over the centuries, the Huntley name has been associated with several notable individuals. One of the earliest was John Huntley (c. 1349-1382), an English landowner and Member of Parliament for Gloucestershire. Another prominent figure was Sir John Huntley (c. 1460-1537), who served as Sheriff of Gloucestershire and was involved in the suppression of the Pilgrimage of Grace rebellion in 1536.

Other notable individuals with the Huntley surname include:

  1. George Huntley (1589-1658), an English clergyman and author.
  2. Sir Charles Huntley (1688-1748), a British army officer and Member of Parliament.
  3. Henry Huntley (1765-1836), an English industrialist and inventor.
  4. Richard Huntley (1811-1892), an English businessman and founder of the Huntley & Palmers biscuit company.
  5. Walter Huntley (1877-1944), a British stage and film actor.

The Huntley name has also been associated with various place names throughout England, such as Huntley in Gloucestershire, Huntley in Somerset, and Huntly in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, reflecting the locational origins of the surname.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Huntley

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

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 Huntley was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 68.37% 8,624
Non-Hispanic Black Only 26.69% 3,367
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 0.58% 73
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.38% 48
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 2.19% 276
Hispanic Origin 1.79% 226

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 Huntley has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 68.37% 70.21% -2.66%
Black 26.69% 26.03% 2.50%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.58% 0.48% 18.87%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.38% 0.38% 0.00%
Two or More Races 2.19% 1.78% 20.65%
Hispanic 1.79% 1.12% 46.05%

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

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

Reference this page

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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!

"Huntley last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on October 31, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/huntley-surname-popularity/.

"Huntley last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/huntley-surname-popularity/. Accessed 31 October, 2024

Huntley last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/huntley-surname-popularity/.

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