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

Tankersley, 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 Tankersley surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Tankersley in America

Tankersley is the 5782nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Tankersley surname appeared 5,990 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Tankersley.

We can also compare 2010 data for Tankersley 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 Tankersley

The surname Tankersley originated in England, likely in the early medieval period. It is a locational name, derived from the place name Tankersley, a village in South Yorkshire. The name is thought to be derived from the Old English words "tancer" meaning a tanner or worker of leather, and "leah" meaning a woodland clearing or meadow.

The earliest recorded mention of the name Tankersley can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it is listed as "Tancredelei" and "Tancredeleia". This suggests that the name was already established by the late 11th century. Other early spellings include Tankersley, Tankersly, and Tankardsley.

In the 13th century, a Johannis de Tankardsley is recorded as holding lands in Tankersley. In the 14th century, a John de Tankersley is mentioned in the Yorkshire Feet of Fines, a legal document related to land ownership and transfers.

One of the earliest notable figures with the name was Sir Richard Tankersley, a Member of Parliament for Yorkshire in the early 15th century. He was born around 1390 and died in 1458.

In the 16th century, John Tankersley was a prominent merchant and alderman in the city of York. He was born in 1520 and died in 1598.

During the English Civil War in the 17th century, Captain Thomas Tankersley served as a Royalist officer under King Charles I. He was born in 1610 and died in 1678.

In the 18th century, Reverend John Tankersley was a notable clergyman and author, born in 1735 and died in 1810. He wrote several religious works and served as a vicar in Yorkshire.

Moving into the 19th century, Sir John Samuel Tankersley was a successful industrialist and philanthropist. Born in 1815, he founded the Tankersley Steel Company and donated funds for the construction of schools and hospitals in South Yorkshire. He died in 1892.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Tankersley

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!