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

Langley, 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 Langley surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Langley in America

Langley is the 1289th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Langley surname appeared 27,252 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 9 people would have the surname Langley.

We can also compare 2010 data for Langley 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 Langley

The surname Langley has its origins in England and dates back to the medieval period. It is a locational surname, derived from the place name Langley, which means "long clearing" or "long meadow" in Old English. The name is composed of the elements "lang" (long) and "leah" (woodland clearing or meadow).

This surname is found in various regions of England, particularly in the counties of Buckinghamshire, Derbyshire, Essex, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Norfolk, and Warwickshire, where there are several places called Langley. The earliest recorded instance of the name Langley can be traced back to the Domesday Book of 1086, where it is listed as "Langelei" in Leicestershire.

One of the earliest recorded bearers of the surname Langley was Sir Robert de Langley, who lived in the late 13th century and was Lord of the Manor of Langley in Buckinghamshire. Another notable figure was Thomas Langley (c. 1363-1437), who served as Bishop of Durham and Lord Chancellor of England during the reigns of Henry IV and Henry V.

In the 16th century, John Langley (c. 1510-1578) was an English churchman and theologian who served as the Bishop of Norwich. During the same period, Hubert Langley (c. 1525-1579) was a Catholic martyr who was executed for his religious beliefs during the reign of Elizabeth I.

In the 17th century, Batty Langley (1696-1751) was an English garden designer, architect, and author, known for his influential works on landscape gardening and architecture. Towards the end of the 18th century, Samuel Pierpont Langley (1834-1906) was an American astronomer, aviation pioneer, and the third Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.

During the 19th century, Edward Bayntun Langley (1851-1933) was a British Army officer who served in the Anglo-Zulu War and the Second Boer War, earning the Victoria Cross for his bravery. Another notable bearer of the surname was Neville Langley Whipple (1837-1909), an English-born Australian politician and businessman who served as a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Langley

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

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

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

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