How common is the surname Reilly?

40,884 people in the United States had the surname Reilly in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 7,552 Americans. It ranked 845th of 162,253 surnames.

What ethnicity is the surname Reilly?

In the 2010 Census, 95% of people named Reilly identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.3% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

Who is the most famous person named Reilly?

John C. Reilly, American actor (born 1965), followed by Kelly Reilly.

Where is the surname Reilly most common?

Wikidata records people named Reilly in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.

How do you pronounce Reilly?

Reilly is /ˈɹaɪli/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname Reilly getting more or less common?

More common. 40,310 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 40,884 in 2010, up 1.4%.

Is Reilly also a first name?

Yes. Reilly is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Reilly

An Irish surname, carried by 40,884 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈɹaɪli/ 2 syllables Soundex R400 Also a first name

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Reilly is more common than 99.5% of them.

Origin

Irish origin

From Irish Ó Raghallaigh, a surname meaning "descendants of Raghallach".

One of 880 Irish surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 40,884 people named Reilly in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 7,552 Americans. That is up 1.4% since 2000, when the Census counted 40,310.

#845

rank among US surnames

40,884

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+1.4%

change since 2000 (was #780)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#836	Hebert	41,275	7,480
#837	Enriquez	41,271	7,481
#838	Hickman	41,163	7,501
#839	Quintero	41,158	7,501
#840	Randolph	41,129	7,507
#841	Schaefer	41,063	7,519
#842	Walls	41,025	7,526

Who is named Reilly

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

95% of people named Reilly identified as white (not Hispanic), 2.3% as Hispanic or Latino (any race) and 1.2% as two or more races.

White (not Hispanic) 95%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.3%
Two or more races 1.2%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.7%
Black (not Hispanic) 0.4%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.1%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Reillys

12 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

John C. Reilly
American actor (born 1965)
Kelly Reilly
British actress, born 1977
Charles Nelson Reilly
American comedian and actor (1931–2007)
James F. Reilly
American astronaut, born 1954
Matthew Reilly
Australian author, born 1974
Kieran Reilly
British bicycle motocross rider, born 2001
John Reilly
American actor (1934-2021)
Mike Reilly
American ice hockey defenceman, born 1993
Terry Reilly
Australian archer (1947–2025)
Hugh Reilly
American actor (1915-1998)
Ariana
American pornographic actress, born 1958
Ursula Curtiss
American author (1923–1984)

Notable Reillys come mostly from the United States (8), the United Kingdom (2) and Australia (2).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Reilly

Reilly has the Soundex code R400, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code R400.

Other Irish surnames

All 880 Irish surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Reilly come from?: From Irish Ó Raghallaigh, a surname meaning "descendants of Raghallach".
How common is the surname Reilly?: 40,884 people in the United States had the surname Reilly in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 7,552 Americans. It ranked 845th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Reilly?: In the 2010 Census, 95% of people named Reilly identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.3% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
Who is the most famous person named Reilly?: John C. Reilly, American actor (born 1965), followed by Kelly Reilly.
Where is the surname Reilly most common?: Wikidata records people named Reilly in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.
How do you pronounce Reilly?: Reilly is /ˈɹaɪli/, 2 syllables.
Is the surname Reilly getting more or less common?: More common. 40,310 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 40,884 in 2010, up 1.4%.
Is Reilly also a first name?: Yes. Reilly is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.