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

Reily, 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 Reily surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Reily in America

Reily is the 19538th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Reily surname appeared 1,382 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 Reily.

We can also compare 2010 data for Reily 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 Reily

The surname REILY originated in Ireland and is a variant of the Gaelic name O'Reilly. It is derived from the Irish words "O" meaning "grandson" and "raghallaigh" meaning "valorous" or "illustrious."

The REILY name can be traced back to the 10th century in County Cavan, Ireland, where the O'Reilly clan were powerful chieftains and landowners. The name is mentioned in the Annals of Ulster, a medieval Irish chronicle that recorded events from the 5th to the 16th century.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the REILY surname is found in the 14th century, when John O'Reilly, a prominent chieftain, was mentioned in the Annals of the Four Masters, a historical chronicle compiled in the early 17th century.

The REILY name has been associated with several notable figures throughout history. In the 16th century, Sir John Reilly was an Irish soldier who fought for the British crown during the Nine Years' War in Ireland. His exploits were recorded in contemporary accounts of the conflict.

Another prominent figure with the REILY surname was Andrew Reily (1768-1836), an Irish-American politician and lawyer who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.

In the 19th century, James Whiteside Reily (1835-1899) was an Irish-born American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania. He was also a Union Army officer during the American Civil War.

The REILY surname has also been linked to several place names in Ireland, such as Reilyhid and Reilyduff, which are derived from the Gaelic "O'Reilly" and reflect the clan's historical territory and landholdings.

Other notable individuals with the REILY surname include William Reily (1773-1848), an Irish-American businessman and politician who served as the 10th Governor of Connecticut, and John Reily (1786-1854), an American lawyer and judge who served as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Missouri.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Reily

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

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

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

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