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

Wamsley, 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 Wamsley surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Wamsley in America

Wamsley is the 9687th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Wamsley surname appeared 3,350 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Wamsley.

We can also compare 2010 data for Wamsley 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 Wamsley

The surname Wamsley is believed to have originated in England, specifically in the counties of Yorkshire and Derbyshire, during the medieval period. It is thought to be derived from the Old English words "wamb," meaning belly or womb, and "leah," meaning a meadow or clearing in a forest.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as "Wamelai." This suggests that the name may have originally referred to a person who lived near a meadow or clearing, perhaps with a distinctive physical characteristic related to their belly or womb.

By the 13th century, the name had evolved into various spellings, including Wammeley, Wamely, and Wamsley. It is believed that these variations emerged due to regional dialects and the inconsistent spelling conventions of the time.

In the 14th century, records show a John Wamsley born in Yorkshire around 1320. He was a prominent landowner and is mentioned in several local court documents and land registries.

Another notable bearer of the name was Sir Thomas Wamsley (1556-1629), a wealthy merchant and Member of Parliament for Ripon in Yorkshire during the reign of King James I. He was known for his involvement in the English cloth trade and his charitable contributions to the city of Ripon.

During the 17th century, the Wamsley name appears to have spread to other parts of England, with records indicating families bearing the name in counties such as Worcestershire and Gloucestershire.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name in the Americas can be traced back to William Wamsley, who was born in England around 1620 and emigrated to Virginia in the 1640s. He established a successful tobacco plantation and is considered one of the earliest settlers of the Wamsley name in the New World.

Another notable figure with the Wamsley surname was James Wamsley (1734-1811), a prominent businessman and landowner in Pennsylvania. He played a significant role in the development of the city of Pittsburgh and was involved in various civic and political endeavors.

As the centuries passed, the Wamsley name continued to be found across different regions of England and, later, in other parts of the world, including the United States, Canada, and Australia, as families with this surname migrated and settled in new territories.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Wamsley

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

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

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

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