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

Riley, 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 Riley surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Riley in America

Riley is the 217th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Riley surname appeared 133,872 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 45 people would have the surname Riley.

We can also compare 2010 data for Riley 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 Riley

The surname Riley is of Irish origin, derived from the Gaelic name O'Reilly or O'Raghailligh, meaning "descendant of Raghaillach." The name Raghaillach is believed to have derived from the word "raghalach," meaning "valorous" or "heroic." The Riley surname is thought to have first emerged in County Cavan, Ireland.

One of the earliest records of the Riley surname is found in the Annals of Ulster, a medieval chronicle that documents events in Ireland from the 5th to the 16th century. In this text, the name O'Reilly is mentioned in connection with various historical events and battles involving the powerful O'Reilly clan in County Cavan.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Riley surname spread throughout Ireland and eventually made its way to England and other parts of the British Isles. Several notable individuals with the Riley surname emerged during this time, including Sir Edmund Riley (1572-1637), an English judge and politician who served as Lord Chief Justice of Ireland.

In the 18th century, the Riley surname began to appear in colonial America as Irish immigrants settled in various regions of the New World. One prominent figure from this era was James Riley (1777-1840), an American sailor and author who wrote a memoir about his experiences as a captive in Africa.

As the Riley surname continued to spread throughout the English-speaking world, it became associated with several notable figures in various fields. For example, James Whitcomb Riley (1849-1916) was a renowned American writer and poet known as the "Hoosier Poet." Another prominent individual was Charles Valentine Riley (1843-1895), an English-born American entomologist who served as the chief entomologist for the United States Department of Agriculture.

Throughout its history, the Riley surname has also been connected to various place names, such as Riley County in Kansas, which was named after Brevet Major-General Bennet Riley (1787-1853), a military officer who served in the Mexican-American War.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Riley

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

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

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

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