# Rowley (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/rowley/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A habitational surname from Old English from the English place name.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | English |
| Type | place, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 15,588 |
| US rank (2010) | 2,338 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 19,807 people |
| Change since 2000 | +5.6% (14,760 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈɹaʊli/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From Old English components ruh (rough, overgrown) + leah (wood, clearing)

## Who carries it

Share of people named Rowley in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 90% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 4.5% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.9% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.7% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.6% |
| Two or more races | 1.8% |

## Where

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

## People named Rowley

- Stan Rowley, Australian sprinter (1876-1924)
- Janet Rowley, American human geneticist (1925–2013)
- Coleen Rowley, American FBI agent, whistleblower, political candidate for Congress
- Jeremy Rowley, American actor
- Gordon Douglas Rowley, botanist and writer (1921-2019)
- Sally Rowley, American jeweler and civil rights activist (1931-2020)
- Lee Rowley, British Conservative party politician (born 1980)

## Similar surnames

Riley, Raley, Rolle, Ruley, Rawley, Royle, Roel, Rowell, Reilly, Royal, Real, Rule.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.