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

Nimley, 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 Nimley surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Nimley in America

Nimley is the 135593rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Nimley surname appeared 124 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 Nimley.

The history of the last name Nimley

The surname NIMLEY has its origins in the Scandinavian region, with the name first appearing in historical records during the 9th century AD. The name is believed to be derived from the Old Norse words "nim" and "ley," which roughly translate to "take" and "meadow" respectively.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the NIMLEY surname can be found in the Icelandic Landnámabók, a medieval manuscript detailing the settlement of Iceland. This suggests that the name may have originated among the Viking settlers who colonized the island in the late 9th and early 10th centuries.

In England, the NIMLEY name appears to have been introduced after the Norman Conquest of 1066, when many Scandinavian settlers accompanied William the Conqueror to the British Isles. The Domesday Book of 1086 contains several entries that may be variations of the NIMLEY surname, such as "Nimelegh" and "Nimelai."

During the Middle Ages, the NIMLEY name was particularly prevalent in the northern counties of England, including Yorkshire and Northumberland, where many Scandinavian place names and settlements were established. Notable individuals bearing the NIMLEY surname from this period include Thorvald NIMLEY, a Norse landowner in Yorkshire whose estate is mentioned in the Danelaw records of 1104.

In the 16th century, the NIMLEY name gained prominence with the birth of Sir Thomas NIMLEY (1534-1619), a wealthy English merchant and landowner from Lincolnshire. Sir Thomas NIMLEY was a prominent figure in the wool trade and served as the Sheriff of Lincolnshire in 1592.

During the 17th century, the NIMLEY surname spread further across the British Isles, with notable individuals including Robert NIMLEY (1606-1684), a Scottish theologian and author of several religious texts, and Elizabeth NIMLEY (1651-1718), a renowned English portrait painter whose works can be found in several notable collections.

As the British Empire expanded in the 18th and 19th centuries, the NIMLEY name also began to appear in various colonial outposts and settlements. One such example is Captain John NIMLEY (1745-1819), a British naval officer who played a significant role in the establishment of the British colony of Sierra Leone in West Africa.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Nimley

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

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 Nimley 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.

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

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

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