# Thorley (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/thorley/  
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.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | English |
| Type | place, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 549 |
| US rank (2010) | 39,960 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 562,378 people |
| Change since 2000 | +8.3% (507 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From Old English þorn (“thornbush”) + lēah (“woodland clearing, glade”). Equivalent to thorn + -ley (“lea”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Thorley 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) | 95% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 1.5% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 1.8% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.0% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Thorley in Nigeria.

## People named Thorley

- Eku Edewor, British actress

## Similar surnames

Turley, Terrell, Tyrrell, Terrill, Trail, Trull, Thurlow, Tyrell, Thrall, Tirrell, Trillo, Triolo.

## 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.