Show ContentsCurley History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The Curley surname is an Anglicization, derived from the Irish Gaelic "Mac Toirdhealbhaigh."

Early Origins of the Curley family

The surname Curley was first found in the Connacht counties of Galway and Roscommon (Irish: Ros Comáin) located in central Ireland in the province of Connacht, where the places names Ballymacurley and Curley's Island can be found. There is also legend in Ireland, that the name descends from Maolduin, the second son of the 164th Monarch of Ireland, who founded the clanns of Muldoon. Maolduin's great, great grandson was Clercen, whose name means "curly one." Clercen founded the Clan O'Cleircen, which anglicized is Curley or Curling.

Early History of the Curley family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Curley research. Another 65 words (5 lines of text) covering the year 1305 is included under the topic Early Curley History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Curley Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Corley, MacCorley, Curley, Curlee, Curling, Kirley, McKerley, McCurley, McCurly and many more.

Early Notables of the Curley family

Notable among the family name at this time was

  • Curley of Mayo

Curley Ranking

In the United States, the name Curley is the 2,518th most popular surname with an estimated 12,435 people with that name. [1]


United States Curley migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Curley Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
  • Alice Curley, who arrived in Virginia in 1636 [2]
  • Charles Curley who settled in America in 1654
Curley Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • James Curley, who landed in Maryland in 1822 [2]
  • Margaret Curley, aged 30, who landed in New York, NY in 1849 [2]
  • Israel Curley, who landed in San Francisco, California in 1850 [2]
  • William M Curley, who arrived in San Francisco, California in 1850 [2]
  • P Curley, who arrived in San Francisco, California in 1851 [2]
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Canada Curley migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Curley Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century
  • Owen Curley, aged 24, a labourer, who arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick in 1834 aboard the ship "Edwin" from Dublin, Ireland
  • Rose Curley, aged 21, who arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick in 1834 aboard the ship "Edwin" from Dublin, Ireland
  • Patrick Curley, aged 23, a labourer, who arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick in 1834 aboard the brig "Trafalgar" from Galway, Ireland
  • Miss. Ellen Curley, aged 1 who was emigrating through Grosse Isle Quarantine Station, Quebec aboard the ship "Yorkshire" departing 9th June 1847 from Liverpool, England; the ship arrived on 10th August 1847 but she died on board [3]
  • Mr. James Curley who was emigrating through Grosse Isle Quarantine Station, Quebec aboard the ship "Junior" departing 10th May 1847 from Liverpool, England; the ship arrived on 3rd July 1847 but he died on board [3]
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Australia Curley migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Curley Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century
  • Miss Mary Curley, (b. 1793), aged 20, Irish convict who was convicted in Dublin, Ireland for 7 years, transported aboard the "Catherine" on 8th December 1813, arriving in New South Wales, Australia [4]
  • Mr. James Curley, (b. 1778), aged 37, British labourer, born in Hampshire, England who was convicted in St Johns, Newfoundland, Canada for life, transported aboard the "Baring" in April 1815, arriving in New South Wales, Australia [5]
  • Mr. John Curley, (Carley), (b. 1814), aged 24, Irish labourer who was convicted in County Offaly (King's County), Ireland for 7 years for stealing, transported aboard the "Clyde" on 11th May 1838, arriving in New South Wales, Australia [6]
  • Mr. William Curley, British Convict who was convicted in London, England for 10 years, transported aboard the "Asiatic" on 26th May 1843, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) [7]
  • Daniel Curley, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Mary Ann" in 1849 [8]
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

New Zealand Curley migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Curley Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century
  • Mr. Michael Curley, British settler, as the 2nd Detachment of New Zealand Corps of Royal New Zealand Fencibles travelling from Gravesend aboard the ship "Minerva" arriving in Auckland, New Zealand on 8th October 1847 [9]
  • Daniel Curley, aged 20, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Strathnaver" in 1874
  • Mary Curley, aged 16, a housekeeper, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Arawa" in 1884

Contemporary Notables of the name Curley (post 1700) +

  • Thomas "Tom" Curley (b. 1948), American journalist appointed President of the Associated Press, the world's largest news organization in 2003
  • Carlo Curley (b. 1952), American classical concert organist
  • Walter Joseph Patrick Curley (b. 1922), United States Ambassador to France from 1989 to 1993 and the United States Ambassador to Ireland from 1975 to 1977
  • James Michael Curley (1874-1958), American political leader, mayor of Boston, Governor of Massachusetts
  • Michael Joseph Curley (1879-1947), American who was the 10th Archbishop of Baltimore and first Archbishop of Washington
  • Gerald M. Curley, American Democratic Party politician, Candidate in primary for Michigan State Senate 5th District, 1966 [10]
  • George F. Curley, American Democratic Party politician, Alternate Delegate to Democratic National Convention from New York, 1952 [10]
  • Edward Walter Curley (1873-1940), American Democratic Party politician, U.S. Representative from New York 22nd District, 1935-40 [10]
  • Charles F. Curley, American Democratic Party politician, U.S. Attorney for Delaware, 1916-20; Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Delaware, 1928 [10]
  • Charles F. Curley, American Democratic Party politician, Member, Committee to Notify Vice-Presidential Nominee, Democratic National Convention, 1912 [10]
  • ... (Another 22 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

RMS Lusitania
  • Miss Alice Curley, American 3rd Class passenger from New York, New York, USA, who sailed aboard the RMS Lusitania (1915) and died in the sinking [11]


  1. "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
  2. Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
  3. Charbonneau, André, and Doris Drolet-Dubé. A Register of Deceased Persons at Sea and on Grosse Île in 1847. The Minister of Canadian Heritage, 1997. ISBN: 0-660-198/1-1997E (p. 72)
  4. Convict Records of Australia (Retreived 2nd January 2021, retreived from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/catherine
  5. Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 16th September 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/baring
  6. Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 24th February 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/clyde
  7. Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 14th July 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/asiatic
  8. State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) The MARY ANN 1849. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1849MaryAnn.htm
  9. New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 17th October 2018). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
  10. The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 28) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
  11. Lusitania Passenger List - The Lusitania Resource. (Retrieved 2014, March 7) . Retrieved from http://www.rmslusitania.info/lusitania-passenger-list/


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