Tulley last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Tulley

A surname derived from an English place name containing the Middle English elements "tul" meaning tax or toll.

Tulley, 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 Tulley surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Tulley in America

Tulley is the 23500th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Tulley surname appeared 1,081 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 Tulley.

We can also compare 2010 data for Tulley 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 23500 23411 0.38%
Count 1,081 1,013 6.49%
Proportion per 100k 0.37 0.38 -2.67%

The history of the last name Tulley

The surname Tulley is believed to have originated in England, first appearing in records from the 13th century. It is thought to have derived from the Old English words 'tull' or 'toll,' meaning a tax or payment, suggesting the name may have referred to an occupation or a place associated with taxation or tolls.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273, which lists a Richard Tolle in Oxfordshire. The spelling 'Tulley' was commonly used in later centuries, and variants such as Tolley, Tolly, and Tullie were also found.

The surname Tulley appears to have been particularly prevalent in the counties of Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, and Worcestershire during the medieval period. Some early bearers of the name were recorded in the Pipe Rolls of Worcestershire, which date back to the 13th century.

In the 16th century, the Tulley surname can be found in various records, including the Subsidy Rolls of 1524, which mention a John Tulley in Warwickshire. The Visitation of Worcestershire in 1569 also documents a family bearing the Tulley name.

One notable figure with this surname was Sir Thomas Tulley (c. 1538-1608), who served as a Member of Parliament for Oxfordshire in the late 16th century. Another was John Tulley (c. 1630-1701), a prominent English lawyer and legal writer from Worcestershire.

In the 17th century, the Tulley name was associated with several places, such as Tulley's Hill in Warwickshire and Tulley's Farm in Oxfordshire, indicating the family's long-standing presence in those areas.

Other notable individuals with the surname Tulley include Benjamin Tulley (1695-1771), an English engraver and printer, and William Tulley (1761-1834), a British naval officer who served during the Napoleonic Wars.

In the 19th century, the Tulley name continued to be found in various parts of England, with some bearers migrating to other parts of the British Isles and beyond.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Tulley

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

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 Tulley was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 82.89% 896
Non-Hispanic Black Only 5.55% 60
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 0.46% 5
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 7.12% 77
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 2.41% 26
Hispanic Origin 1.57% 17

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 Tulley has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 82.89% 83.61% -0.86%
Black 5.55% 4.74% 15.74%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.46% 0.49% -6.32%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 7.12% 8.19% -13.98%
Two or More Races 2.41% 1.78% 30.07%
Hispanic 1.57% 1.18% 28.36%

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

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

Reference this page

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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!

"Tulley last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on December 22, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/tulley-surname-popularity/.

"Tulley last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/tulley-surname-popularity/. Accessed 22 December, 2024

Tulley last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/tulley-surname-popularity/.

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