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Crawley Family History

Crawley Surname Meaning

English: habitational name from any of the many places called Crawley for example in Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hampshire, Sussex, and Oxfordshire named with Old English crāwe ‘crow’ + lēah ‘woodland clearing’. Compare Crowley.

Irish (Louth): in Ireland this is generally the English name in 1 above but it may also have been adopted for McCrawley, an Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Raghallaigh ‘son of Raghallach’, also Anglicized as Magreely.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022


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Where is the Crawley family from?

You can see how Crawley families moved over time by selecting different census years. The Crawley family name was found in the USA, the UK, Canada, and Scotland between 1840 and 1920. The most Crawley families were found in United Kingdom in 1891. In 1891 there were 1,486 Crawley families living in London. This was about 39% of all the recorded Crawley's in United Kingdom. London had the highest population of Crawley families in 1891.
Use census records and voter lists to see where families with the Crawley surname lived. Within census records, you can often find information like name of household members, ages, birthplaces, residences, and occupations.
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What did your Crawley ancestors do for a living?

In 1939, General Labourer and Unpaid Domestic Duties were the top reported jobs for men and women in the United Kingdom named Crawley. 14% of Crawley men worked as a General Labourer and 69% of Crawley women worked as an Unpaid Domestic Duties. Some less common occupations for Americans named Crawley were Dock Labourer and Incapacitated.

View Census Data for Crawley | Data not to scale

*We display top occupations by gender to maintain their historical accuracy during times when men and women often performed different jobs.

Top Male Occupations In 1939

  • General Labourer
    14%
  • Builders Labourer
    7%
  • Retired
    3%
  • Dock Labourer
    3%

Top Female Occupations In 1939

  • Unpaid Domestic Duties
    69%
  • Housewife
    4%
  • Unpaid Domestic
    4%
  • Incapacitated
    3%

What Crawley family records will you find?

Census Records

There are 154,000 census records available for the last name Crawley. Like a window into their day-to-day life, Crawley census records can tell you where and how your ancestors worked, their level of education, veteran status, and more.

Search UK census records for Crawley

Passenger Lists

There are 13,000 immigration records available for the last name Crawley. Passenger lists are your ticket to knowing when your ancestors arrived in the UK, and how they made the journey - from the ship name to ports of arrival and departure.

View all Crawley immigration records

Draft Cards

There are 16,000 military records available for the last name Crawley. For the veterans among your Crawley ancestors, military collections provide insights into where and when they served, and even physical descriptions.

View all Crawley military records

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