Explore the Family Name Kearsley

The meaning of Kearsley

English (Lancashire): 1. habitational name for someone from Kearsley (Lancashire), Kearsley in Stamfordham (Northumberland) or Keresley (Warwickshire). 2. rare variant of Caseley, a habitational name from Caseley in Lustleigh (Devon) and meaning ‘cress-spring clearing, from Old English cærse + wielle + lēah.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Kearsley in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Kearsley has seen a rise in popularity from 2000 to 2010. In the year 2000, Kearsley ranked 48,196 in terms of most common surnames, but by 2010 it had moved up to 45,653, marking an increase of approximately 5.28%. The count of individuals with this surname also grew from 412 in 2000 to 468 in 2010, representing a rise of 13.59%. Consequently, the proportion of people named Kearsley per 100,000 residents marginally increased from 0.15 to 0.16 during this decade.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#48,196	#45,653	5.28%
Count	412	468	13.59%
Proportion per 100k	0.15	0.16	6.67%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Kearsley

When examining the ethnic identity associated with the surname Kearsley, there was no change recorded for Asian/Pacific Islander and American Indian/Alaskan Native identities between 2000 and 2010, according to the Decennial U.S. Census. However, there was a notable increase of 46.68% in the number of individuals identifying as two or more races. Over the same period, the proportion of Kearsleys identifying as White decreased by 3.28%, while both Hispanic and Black ethnicities saw increases of 14.40% and 13.80%, respectively.

	2000	2010	Change
White	88.59%	85.68%	-3.28%
Two or More Races	4.37%	6.41%	46.68%
Black	4.13%	4.7%	13.8%
Hispanic	2.43%	2.78%	14.4%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%