Cawley

Cawley is a surname in the English language. There are several different origins of the surname. In some cases the surnames are derived from any of numerous place names in England. In other cases the surnames are derived from any of several Gaelic language surnames.

Cawley
GenderUnisex
Language(s)English
Origin
Language(s)1. English
2. Irish, Scottish Gaelic
Other names
See alsoMacCawley, McCawley, O'Cawley

Etymology

In some cases the surname is a variant of the surname Cowley,[1] and is thus derived from any of a number of different place names in England. Such places are located in Buckinghamshire, Devon, Oxfordshire, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Lancashire, Gloucestershire, and Middlesex. These place names have numerous different etymologies.[2] For example, one place name is derived from the Old English elements cu and leah, meaning "cow" and "woodland clearing"; another two are from the Old English col, meaning "coal" (in reference to charcoal); other places may be in part derived from the Old English personal names Cufa and Cofa.[3]

In some cases, the surnames are derived from the Scottish Gaelic MacAmhalghaidh, and Irish Mac Amhalghaidh.[4][5] These Gaelic surnames translates into English as "son of Amhalghaidh"[6] or "son of Amhalghadh".[5] The Gaelic surnames originated as a patronyms, however they are no longer used to refer to the actual names of the bearers' fathers. The personal name Amhalghaidh (also spelt Amhalghadh) is an old Gaelic name, and its etymological origin and meaning are uncertain.[5]

In other cases, the surnames are derived from the Scottish Gaelic MacAmhlaidh, or the Irish Mac Amhlaoibh.[5] These surnames translate into English as "son of Amhladh" or "son of Amhlaidh"; and "son of Amhlaoibh". The Gaelic surnames originated as a patronyms, however they are no longer used to refer to the actual names of the bearers' fathers. The names Amhladh, Amhlaidh, and Amhlaoibh are Gaelic derivatives of the Old Norse personal names Áleifr and Óláfr.[4][5][7]

Distribution

United States

In 1990, the United States Census Bureau undertook a study of the 1990 United States Census, and released a sample of data concerning the most common names.[8] According to this sample of 6.3 million people (who had 88,799 unique last names),[9] Cawley ranked 7,289th most common last name, and was borne by 0.002 percent of the population sample.[10] Within the 2000 United States Census, Cawley was the 5,900th most common last name, with 5,370 occurrences.[11] The table below shows data concerning racial-ethnic aspects of the surname in the 2000 United States Census.[12]

Name Percent White only Percent Black only Percent Asian and Pacific Islander only Percent American Indian and Alaskan Native only Percent Two or more races Percent Hispanic
Cawley[11]
93.17
3.26
0.67
0.24
1.3
1.36

List of persons with the surname

See also

References
  1. Reaney, Percy Hilde; Wilson, Richard Middlewood (2006), A Dictionary of English Surnames (3rd ed.), London: Routledge, p. 603, ISBN 0-203-99355-1.
  2. Reaney, Percy Hilde; Wilson, Richard Middlewood (2006), A Dictionary of English Surnames (3rd ed.), London: Routledge, p. 771, ISBN 0-203-99355-1.
  3. Learn about the family history of your surname, Ancestry.com, retrieved 11 January 2011 which cited: Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4 for the surname "Cowley".
  4. Black, George Fraser (1946), The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning, and History, New York: New York Public Library, pp. 37, 455.
  5. Learn about the family history of your surname, Ancestry.com, retrieved 7 January 2011, which cited: Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4, for the surnames "Cawley" and "McCauley".
  6. Mac Amhalghadha, Mac Amhalghaidh, Library Ireland (www.libraryireland.com), retrieved 19 December 2010, which is a transcription of: Woulfe, Patrick (1923), Irish Names and Surnames.
  7. Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006), A Dictionary of First Names, Oxford Paperback Reference (2nd ed.), Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 341, 393, 399, ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1.
  8. Genealogy Data: Frequently Occurring Surnames from Census 1990 – Names Files, United States Census Bureau (www.census.gov), archived from the original on 2009-12-31, retrieved 7 January 2011
  9. Documentation and Methodology for Frequently Occurring Names in the U.S., United States Census Bureau (www.census.gov), archived from the original (txt) on 31 December 2009, retrieved 7 January 2011
  10. dist.all.last, United States Census Bureau (www.census.gov), archived from the original (txt) on 2011-07-07, retrieved 7 January 2011
  11. Genealogy Data: Frequently Occurring Surnames from Census 2000, United States Census Bureau (www.census.gov), archived from the original on 21 December 2009, retrieved 7 January 2011.
  12. Word, David L.; Coleman, Charles, D.; Nunziata, Robert; Kominski, Robert, Demographic Aspects of Surnames from Census 2000 (PDF), United States Census Bureau (www.census.gov), p. 17, archived from the original (PDF) on 16 February 2010, retrieved 7 January 2011CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link).
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