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

Wrigley, 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 Wrigley surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Wrigley in America

Wrigley is the 13326th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Wrigley surname appeared 2,289 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 Wrigley.

We can also compare 2010 data for Wrigley 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 Wrigley

The surname Wrigley originated in England, deriving from the Old English words "wri" meaning twisted or crooked, and "leah" meaning a clearing or meadow. It likely referred to someone who lived near a crooked or winding meadow.

The name can be traced back to the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as "Wriggelegh" and "Wriggelea". This suggests the surname was already established by the 11th century in areas like Cheshire and Lancashire.

Early recordings of the name include William de Wrigeleye in the Assize Court Rolls of Staffordshire in 1272, and Richard de Wriggeley in the Yorkshire Poll Tax Returns of 1379.

Over time, the name evolved with various spellings like Wriggeley, Wriggeley, Wrigglesworth, and eventually settled into its modern form of Wrigley.

Notable people with the surname Wrigley include Sir Edward Wrigley (1539-1618), an English politician who served as Sheriff of Lancashire, and William Wrigley Jr. (1861-1932), the American businessman who founded the Wrigley Company and popularized chewing gum.

Other historical figures with this name are Thomas Wrigley (1808-1891), an English architect known for designing churches and public buildings, and Francis Wrigley Hirst (1873-1953), an English journalist and editor of The Economist magazine.

In the 17th century, Thomas Wrigley (1637-1702) was a prominent Quaker minister and traveled extensively to spread his religious beliefs in England and America.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Wrigley

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

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

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

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