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

Kenley, 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 Kenley surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Kenley in America

Kenley is the 23167th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Kenley surname appeared 1,101 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Kenley.

We can also compare 2010 data for Kenley 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 Kenley

The surname Kenley is of English origin, and it is believed to have originated in the 16th century. The name is derived from the Old English words "cyne" meaning "royal" or "kingly" and "leah" meaning "woodland clearing" or "meadow." This suggests that the name may have been originally associated with a royal or kingly estate or land that had a woodland clearing.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kenley can be found in the parish records of Coulsdon, Surrey, where a Thomas Kenley was mentioned in the year 1587. The name also appears in the records of the nearby parish of Croydon in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

The name Kenley is closely linked to the village of Kenley, which is located in the London Borough of Croydon. It is believed that the village's name may have been derived from the surname Kenley, or vice versa. The village is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Chenedili," which further supports the theory of the name's ancient origins.

One notable individual with the surname Kenley was Sir Walter Kenley, who lived in the early 17th century and served as a Member of Parliament for Gatton, Surrey, in 1624. Another noteworthy bearer of the name was John Kenley, who was born in London in 1674 and became a prominent merchant and trader in the British East India Company.

In the 18th century, the surname Kenley gained some prominence through the exploits of Captain Edward Kenley, a British naval officer who served during the Seven Years' War and was commended for his bravery in several engagements against the French. He was born in 1726 and died in 1798.

Furthermore, the name Kenley was also associated with the village of Kenley in the 19th century, when William Kenley, a wealthy landowner, established the Kenley Estate in the area. He was born in 1792 and died in 1868.

Another significant figure with the surname Kenley was Sir Walter Kenley-Stedall, a British military officer who served in the Crimean War and the Indian Rebellion of 1857. He was born in 1835 and died in 1908.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Kenley

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

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

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

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