2000
#13,415
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,082
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.77
Rare Last name
Wrigley
Habitational surname derived from a place name meaning "clearing by a wriggling stream" in Old English.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,297 Americans carry the last name Wrigley. That puts it at #14,366 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.67 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 149,218 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Wrigley surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Wrigley with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
2.3K
1 in 149,218
Census rank
#14,366
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.0K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,003 bearers of the surname Wrigley in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.67 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 14366th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Wrigley, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.9%) and Two or More Races (3.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of 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.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Wrigley
Among Census respondents with the surname Wrigley, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.9%) and Two or More Races (3.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Wrigley bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Wrigley surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.0% · 1,802
- Hispanic or Latino3.9% · 78
- Two or more races3.3% · 67
- Black or African American1.4% · 28
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 25
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 3
Timeline
Historical Census data for Wrigley
Wrigley appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#13,326
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,289
+207 bearers (+9.9%)
Per 100,000 0.78
Rank movement Up 89 places
2020
#14,366
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,003
-286 bearers (-12.5%)
Per 100,000 0.67
Rank movement Down 1,040 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #13,415 | 2,082 | 0.77 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #13,326 | 2,289 | 0.78 | +207 bearers (+9.9%) | Up 89 places |
| 2020 | #14,366 | 2,003 | 0.67 | -286 bearers (-12.5%) | Down 1,040 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Wrigley surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #13,326 | #14,366 | -7.8% |
| Count | 2,289 | 2,003 | -12.5% |
| Per 100K | 0.78 | 0.67 | -14.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Wrigley bearers went from 2,289 to 2,003 (-12.5% change). The surname moved down 1,040 positions in the national ranking, going from #13,326 to #14,366.
FAQ
Wrigley surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Wrigley?
Name Census estimates that about 2,297 living Americans carry the surname Wrigley. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 149,218 residents.
How common is Wrigley?
Wrigley ranks #14,366 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.67 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,003 people with the surname Wrigley. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,297), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.67 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.67 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Wrigley.
Has Wrigley become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Wrigley went from 2,289 recorded bearers to 2,003. That is a decrease of 286 (-12.5%). In the national ranking it fell from #13,326 to #14,366.
What does the Census say about the background of Wrigley?
Among Census respondents with the surname Wrigley, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.9%) and Two or More Races (3.3%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Wrigley in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.0% (1,802 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Wrigley appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (90.0%), Hispanic (3.9%), Two or More Races (3.3%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Wrigley (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Wrigley mean?
Habitational surname derived from a place name meaning "clearing by a wriggling stream" in Old English. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Wrigley (0.67 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people are called Wrigley?
If you just want to know how many people have the surname Wrigley, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.