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

Tormey, 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 Tormey surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Tormey in America

Tormey is the 20985th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Tormey surname appeared 1,254 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 Tormey.

We can also compare 2010 data for Tormey 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 Tormey

The surname Tormey originated in Ireland in the 12th century. It is an anglicized version of the Gaelic surname O'Tuairmey, which means "descendant of Tuairmey." Tuairmey is derived from the Gaelic word "torm," meaning "noise" or "clamor."

The Tormey name was first recorded in County Mayo, located in the province of Connacht in western Ireland. The earliest known bearer of the name was Domhnall O'Tuairmey, who lived in the late 12th century and was a member of a prominent family in the region.

In the 16th century, the Tormey surname was found in various historical records, including the Annals of the Four Masters, a chronicle of medieval Irish history. One notable reference is to Tadhg Tormey, who was described as a learned man and a skilled poet in the early 17th century.

The Tormey name also appears in the Fiants of the Tudor Conquest, a collection of official documents from the 16th and 17th centuries. These records mention several individuals with the surname, such as Muiris Tormey, who was granted land in County Mayo in 1604.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Tormey surname was in the Annals of Ulster, a chronicle of Irish history from the 15th to the 17th century. It mentions Diarmuid Tormey, who was involved in a conflict between rival clans in the year 1487.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, several notable individuals bore the Tormey surname. Seán Tormey (1744-1818) was a prominent Irish poet and scholar who wrote extensively in the Gaelic language. John Tormey (1809-1890) was an Irish-born prelate who served as the Bishop of Brooklyn, New York, from 1853 until his death.

Another notable figure was Michael Tormey (1846-1922), an Irish-American architect who designed several churches and other buildings in the New York City area, including the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark, New Jersey.

While the Tormey surname is predominantly Irish in origin, it has also been found in other parts of the world due to Irish immigration. One example is William Tormey (1873-1942), an Australian politician and trade union leader who served as a member of the Parliament of New South Wales.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Tormey

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

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

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

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