2000
#808
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 38,971
First available Census row
Per 100,000 14.45
Uncommon Last name
Hurley
An anglicized form of the Irish surname Ó hUirthile, meaning "descendant of Urthile," a personal name of unknown meaning.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 44,021 Americans carry the last name Hurley. That puts it at #891 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 12.84 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 7,786 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Hurley 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 Hurley with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
44K
1 in 7,786
Census rank
#891
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
12.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
38K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 38,388 bearers of the surname Hurley in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 12.84 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 891st position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Hurley, the largest self-reported group is White at 87.6%. The next largest groups are Black (4.7%) and Two or More Races (3.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Hurley
The surname Hurley has its origins in Ireland, where it first emerged in the medieval period. It is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic surname Ó hUirthile, which means "descendant of Uirthile." Uirthile was a personal name derived from the Gaelic word "oir," meaning "green," suggesting that the original bearer may have had a connection to a green or verdant place.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Hurley can be found in the Annals of the Four Masters, a chronicle of medieval Irish history. In this text, the name appears as "O'Hurley" in reference to a family from County Limerick in the 13th century.
The name Hurley is predominantly associated with the counties of Cork and Limerick, where several prominent families bearing this surname resided. One notable figure was Patrick Hurley (c. 1529-1584), an Irish Roman Catholic bishop who served as the Archbishop of Cashel from 1568 until his death.
In the 16th century, the Hurley surname was also found in the Aran Islands, off the west coast of Ireland. Records from this period mention a family named "O'Hurley" as landowners on the island of Inishmore.
As the name Hurley spread across Ireland, it underwent various spelling variations, including Hurly, Hurlee, and Hurlie. These variations reflected the phonetic adaptations of the name in different regions.
Outside of Ireland, the Hurley surname can be traced back to England in the 17th century, where it was likely adopted by Irish immigrants. One notable English bearer of the name was William Hurley (1629-1689), a Royalist army officer who fought in the English Civil War.
Another prominent figure with the Hurley surname was John Hurley (1786-1865), an Irish-American businessman and politician who served as the 38th Mayor of New York City from 1863 to 1864.
In the United States, the Hurley surname gained further recognition with individuals like Patrick Hurley (1883-1963), an American lawyer and diplomat who served as the United States Secretary of War under President Herbert Hoover.
Other notable individuals with the Hurley surname include Denis Hurley (1915-2004), a South African Roman Catholic bishop who played a significant role in the opposition to apartheid, and Elizabeth Hurley (born 1965), an English actress and model.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hurley
Among Census respondents with the surname Hurley, the largest self-reported group is White at 87.6%. The next largest groups are Black (4.7%) and Two or More Races (3.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Hurley 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 Hurley surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.6% · 33,629
- Black or African American4.7% · 1,813
- Two or more races3.4% · 1,316
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 1,108
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 291
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 231
Timeline
Historical Census data for Hurley
Hurley 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
#870
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 39,796
+825 bearers (+2.1%)
Per 100,000 13.49
Rank movement Down 62 places
2020
#891
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 38,388
-1,408 bearers (-3.5%)
Per 100,000 12.84
Rank movement Down 21 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #808 | 38,971 | 14.45 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #870 | 39,796 | 13.49 | +825 bearers (+2.1%) | Down 62 places |
| 2020 | #891 | 38,388 | 12.84 | -1,408 bearers (-3.5%) | Down 21 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 Hurley 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 | #870 | #891 | -2.4% |
| Count | 39,796 | 38,388 | -3.5% |
| Per 100K | 13.49 | 12.84 | -4.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Hurley bearers went from 39,796 to 38,388 (-3.5% change). The surname moved down 21 positions in the national ranking, going from #870 to #891.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Hurley
FAQ
Hurley surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Hurley?
Name Census estimates that about 44,021 living Americans carry the surname Hurley. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 7,786 residents.
How common is Hurley?
Hurley ranks #891 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 12.84 per 100,000 residents, which is about 13 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 38,388 people with the surname Hurley. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (44,021), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 12.84 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 12.84 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 13 of them to have the surname Hurley.
Has Hurley become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Hurley went from 39,796 recorded bearers to 38,388. That is a decrease of 1,408 (-3.5%). In the national ranking it fell from #870 to #891.
What does the Census say about the background of Hurley?
Among Census respondents with the surname Hurley, the largest self-reported group is White at 87.6%. The next largest groups are Black (4.7%) and Two or More Races (3.4%). 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 Hurley in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.6% (33,629 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Hurley appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (87.6%), Black (4.7%), Two or More Races (3.4%). 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 Hurley (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 Hurley mean?
An anglicized form of the Irish surname Ó hUirthile, meaning "descendant of Urthile," a personal name of unknown meaning. 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 Hurley (12.84 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 common is the surname Hurley?
See how many people have the surname Hurley on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.