Explore the Family Name Midgley

The meaning of Midgley

English: habitational name from any of several places in West Yorkshire, or minor places in Cheshire, named in Old English as ‘midge glade’, from micg(e) ‘midge’ + lēah ‘wood’; ‘clearing, glade’.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Midgley shows slight changes between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, Midgley was ranked as the 18,847th most popular surname, but in 2010, it dropped slightly to the 19,398th position, marking a decrease of 2.92%. However, despite the drop in rank, the actual count of individuals with the Midgley surname increased from 1,342 to 1,393, which is a growth rate of 3.8%. The proportion per 100,000 people also saw a small decrease from 0.5 in 2000 to 0.47 in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#18,847	#19,398	-2.92%
Count	1,342	1,393	3.8%
Proportion per 100k	0.5	0.47	-6%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Midgley

The ethnicity associated with the surname Midgley also witnessed some shifts between 2000 and 2010, according to the Decennial U.S. Census data. While the majority of the Midgleys identified themselves as White (93.96% in 2000 and 92.32% in 2010), there were slight increases in those identifying as Hispanic (from 2.24% to 3.30%) and Black (from 1.86% to 1.94%). Notably, there was no change in the percentage of Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian and Alaskan Native Midgleys. The data did reveal an appearance of Midgleys who identify with two or more ethnic identities in 2010, which was not reported in the 2000 census.

	2000	2010	Change
White	93.96%	92.32%	-1.75%
Hispanic	2.24%	3.3%	47.32%
Black	1.86%	1.94%	4.3%
Two or More Races	0%	1.51%	0%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0.89%	0%	0%