Cooley Family History

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Cooley Name Meaning

Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Giolla Chúille ‘son of the servant of (Saint) Mochúille’, a rare Clare name, or a reduced form of McCooley, a variant of McCauley. Americanized form of German Kuhle or Kühle, variants of Kuhl.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford University Press


Similar surnames: Gooley, Dooley, Colley, Cowley, Cooney, Cogley, Coley, Corley, Tooley

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Cooley Ethnicity Estimate

What are the common regions with the Cooley name?

These results combine data from everyone in the AncestryDNA® database with the last name Cooley. The Ancestry® ethnicity regions shown are top five most common on average for these people.

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  • England & Wales

    52%

  • Ireland & Scotland

    18%

  • Germanic Europe

    8%

  • Norway

    3%

  • Cameroon, Congo, & Southern Bantu Peoples

    2%

Your own DNA-based ethnicity estimate will differ from what you see here. To get your personalized ethnicity estimate, order an AncestryDNA® kit.order an AncestryDNA® kit.

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Cooley Family Origin

Where is the Cooley family from?

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You can see how Cooley families moved over time by selecting different census years. The Cooley family name was found in the USA, the UK, Canada, and Scotland between 1840 and 1920. The most Cooley families were found in the USA in 1880. In 1891 there were 216 Cooley families living in London. This was about 24% of all the recorded Cooley's in the UK. London had the highest population of Cooley families in 1891.
Use census records and voter lists to see where families with the Cooley surname lived. Within census records, you can often find information like name of household members, ages, birthplaces, residences, and occupations.

View Census Data for Cooley

Cooley Family Occupations

What did your Cooley ancestors do for a living?

In 1881, Labourer, Agricultural Labourer and Coal Miner were the top 3 reported jobs worked by Cooley. The most common Cooley occupation in the UK was Labourer. 6% of Cooley's were Labourers. A less common occupation for the Cooley family was Bricklayer.

View Census data for Cooley | Data not to scale

  • Labourer

    6%

  • Agricultural Labourer

    3%

  • Coal Miner

    3%

  • Bricklayer

    2%

Census records can tell you a lot of little known facts about your Cooley ancestors, such as occupation. Occupation can tell you about your ancestor's social and economic status.

Cooley Historical Records

What Cooley family records will you find?

Census Record

There are 160,000 census records available for the last name Cooley. Like a window into their day-to-day life, Cooley census records can tell you where and how your ancestors worked, their level of education, veteran status, and more.

Search 1891 UK census records for Cooley

Passenger List

There are 9,000 immigration records available for the last name Cooley. 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 Cooley immigration records

Draft Card

There are 33,000 military records available for the last name Cooley. For the veterans among your Cooley ancestors, military collections provide insights into where and when they served, and even physical descriptions.

View all Cooley military records

You've only scratched the surface of Cooley family history.

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Cooley Life Expectancy

What is the average Cooley lifespan?

Between 1940 and 2004, in the United States, Cooley life expectancy was at its lowest point in 1941, and highest in 2000. The average life expectancy for Cooley in 1940 was 59, and 73 in 2004.

View Social Security Death Index (SSDI) for Cooley

An unusually short lifespan might indicate that your Cooley ancestors lived in harsh conditions. A short lifespan might also indicate health problems that were once prevalent in your family. The SSDI is a searchable database of more than 70 million names. You can find birthdates, death dates, addresses and more.

Famous Cooley Family Ancestors

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