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

Mortley, 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 Mortley surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Mortley in America

Mortley is the 105079th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Mortley surname appeared 170 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 Mortley.

We can also compare 2010 data for Mortley 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 Mortley

The surname Mortley has its origins in England, tracing back to the medieval period. It is believed to have derived from a place name, possibly a location in Yorkshire or Derbyshire. The earliest recorded spelling of the name appears to be Morteleye, found in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire in the year 1176.

The name Mortley is thought to be a combination of the Old English words "mor" meaning "moor" or "marsh" and "leah" meaning "a clearing" or "meadow." This suggests that the name may have originally referred to someone who lived near a marshy or moorland clearing.

In the Domesday Book of 1086, a record of landholdings across England commissioned by William the Conqueror, there are several entries that may be related to the origins of the Mortley name. These include references to places like "Mortuna" in Derbyshire and "Mortone" in Yorkshire.

One of the earliest known individuals with the surname Mortley was John de Morteleye, who was mentioned in the Court Rolls of the Manor of Wakefield in Yorkshire in 1315. Another early record is of a William de Morteley, who was documented in the Yorkshire Poll Tax Returns of 1379.

Throughout the centuries, there have been several notable individuals with the Mortley surname. Sir John Mortley (1556-1629) was an English politician who served as a Member of Parliament for Shropshire. Thomas Mortley (1618-1668) was an English clergyman and author, known for his translations of classic Greek texts.

In the 18th century, John Mortley (1700-1778) was a prominent English merchant and landowner, who served as the High Sheriff of Northamptonshire. William Mortley (1730-1809) was a British naval officer who achieved the rank of Vice Admiral and participated in several significant battles during the American Revolutionary War and the Napoleonic Wars.

Another notable figure was Sir Archibald Mortley (1805-1891), a British diplomat and colonial administrator who served as the Governor of Cape Colony (now part of South Africa) from 1854 to 1859.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Mortley

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

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

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

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