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

McFarley, 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 McFarley surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of McFarley in America

McFarley is the 117480th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The McFarley surname appeared 148 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 McFarley.

We can also compare 2010 data for McFarley 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 McFarley

The surname McFarley is of Scottish origin and can be traced back to the 16th century in the Highlands region of Scotland. It is believed to be a variant of the name McFarlane, which itself is a Gaelic patronymic name derived from the personal name Parlan or Parlan, meaning "noisy" or "obstreperous."

The earliest recorded instance of the name McFarley dates back to 1583, when a John McFarley was mentioned in the Register of the Privy Council of Scotland. In the 17th century, the name appeared in various legal documents and parish records from the counties of Argyll and Perthshire.

One notable bearer of the McFarley name was Duncan McFarley (1640-1718), a Scottish Covenanter and minister who was imprisoned for his religious beliefs during the Killing Times of the late 17th century. Another early McFarley was Robert McFarley (1710-1784), a merchant and landowner from Greenock, Renfrewshire.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the McFarley name spread to other parts of the British Isles and beyond as Scottish emigrants sought new opportunities. Some variations in spelling emerged, such as McFarleigh and McFarlay.

A prominent McFarley in the 19th century was Charles McFarley (1820-1892), an Irish-born Canadian journalist and politician who served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Another notable figure was William McFarley (1832-1901), a Scottish-born Australian politician and businessman who served as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council.

Other notable individuals with the McFarley surname include James McFarley (1854-1935), a Scottish-born American businessman and philanthropist who founded the McFarley Corporation; and John McFarley (1892-1962), a Scottish-born American football player and coach who played for the Massillon Tigers and later coached at several colleges.

While the McFarley name has roots stretching back several centuries in Scotland, it has since been carried across the globe by emigrants and their descendants, contributing to the rich tapestry of cultural diversity in many nations.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name McFarley

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

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!