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

Hurley, 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 Hurley surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Hurley in America

Hurley is the 870th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Hurley surname appeared 39,796 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 13 people would have the surname Hurley.

We can also compare 2010 data for Hurley 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 Hurley

The surname Hurley has its origins in Ireland, where it first emerged in the medieval period. It is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic surname Ó hUirthile, which means "descendant of Uirthile." Uirthile was a personal name derived from the Gaelic word "oir," meaning "green," suggesting that the original bearer may have had a connection to a green or verdant place.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Hurley can be found in the Annals of the Four Masters, a chronicle of medieval Irish history. In this text, the name appears as "O'Hurley" in reference to a family from County Limerick in the 13th century.

The name Hurley is predominantly associated with the counties of Cork and Limerick, where several prominent families bearing this surname resided. One notable figure was Patrick Hurley (c. 1529-1584), an Irish Roman Catholic bishop who served as the Archbishop of Cashel from 1568 until his death.

In the 16th century, the Hurley surname was also found in the Aran Islands, off the west coast of Ireland. Records from this period mention a family named "O'Hurley" as landowners on the island of Inishmore.

As the name Hurley spread across Ireland, it underwent various spelling variations, including Hurly, Hurlee, and Hurlie. These variations reflected the phonetic adaptations of the name in different regions.

Outside of Ireland, the Hurley surname can be traced back to England in the 17th century, where it was likely adopted by Irish immigrants. One notable English bearer of the name was William Hurley (1629-1689), a Royalist army officer who fought in the English Civil War.

Another prominent figure with the Hurley surname was John Hurley (1786-1865), an Irish-American businessman and politician who served as the 38th Mayor of New York City from 1863 to 1864.

In the United States, the Hurley surname gained further recognition with individuals like Patrick Hurley (1883-1963), an American lawyer and diplomat who served as the United States Secretary of War under President Herbert Hoover.

Other notable individuals with the Hurley surname include Denis Hurley (1915-2004), a South African Roman Catholic bishop who played a significant role in the opposition to apartheid, and Elizabeth Hurley (born 1965), an English actress and model.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Hurley

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

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

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

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