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

Reilley, 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 Reilley surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Reilley in America

Reilley is the 18502nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Reilley surname appeared 1,493 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Reilley.

We can also compare 2010 data for Reilley 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 Reilley

The surname Reilley is an anglicized version of the Irish Gaelic Ó Raghaillaigh, which translates to "descendant of Raghallach". The name is believed to have originated in County Cavan, Ireland, during the Middle Ages.

Raghallach was a personal name derived from the Irish word "ragh", meaning "to choose" or "to select". It was a common practice in ancient Ireland to adopt surnames based on the first name of a notable ancestor or chieftain.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Reilley can be found in the Annals of Ulster, a chronicle of medieval Irish history, which mentions a Mael Sechlainn O'Raghaillaigh in the year 1233.

The Domesday Book, a comprehensive record of land ownership in England compiled in 1086, does not contain any entries for the surname Reilley, as it was an Irish name that emerged later.

In the 16th century, the name Reilley was recorded in various spellings, including Reilly, Reyley, and Reiley, reflecting the phonetic variations common in the transition from Gaelic to English.

One notable individual with the surname Reilley was Andrew Reilley (1786-1860), an Irish-American printer and publisher who established the first Catholic publishing house in the United States.

Another prominent figure was John Francis Reilly (1839-1921), an American lawyer and politician who served as the 26th Governor of Wisconsin from 1892 to 1896.

In the literary world, James Reilley (1860-1930) was an Irish-American author and journalist who wrote extensively about Irish culture and history.

The name Reilley also has connections to the military, with Major General James Reilley (1862-1940), a decorated officer in the United States Army during World War I.

Finally, Mary Reilley (1862-1924) was a pioneering American educator and advocate for women's rights, known for her work in establishing the Women's Trade Union League.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Reilley

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

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

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

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