The Lively surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 11,026 people carried this name — #3,279 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 26,700 people counted. That is up 3% from 10,731 in 2000.

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In the first U.S. census, 1790

17 families named Lively, or a close spelling, were counted in 1790.

Each family is counted by its head. About 102 people lived in those households, 6 to a family on average. The table counts it together with 2 other spellings. The table lists white heads of families only, in the twelve states whose 1790 records survive; Virginia’s figures come from state lists of 1782–1785.

Families, by state

Virginia 13
South Carolina 3
Pennsylvania 1

U.S. Census Bureau, «A Century of Population Growth from the First Census of the United States to the Twelfth, 1790–1900» (Washington, 1909), table 111, p. 250 — public domain · names carried by at least 100 white persons in 1790.

In print

Lively in American newspapers,
1883–1921.

Newspaper page from The Grenada Sentinel carrying the name Lively
The Grenada Sentinel 1883-06-02
Newspaper page from The Bossier Banner carrying the name Lively
The Bossier Banner 1883-06-28
Newspaper page from The New York Herald carrying the name Lively
The New York Herald 1921-08-07

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain.

In print

Lively in Australian newspapers,
1830s–1990s.

1,944 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Lively. The most, 370, date from the 1940s. New South Wales has the most articles, but weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, the name stands out most in South Australia, at 1.8 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 595
Victoria 500
South Australia 398
Queensland 211
Western Australia 137
Tasmania 76
ACT (Canberra) 20
Northern Territory 1

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Lively.

Who carried it

People named Lively,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Jack Lively
    Jack Lively 1885–1967 · baseball player
  • Edward Lively 1545–1605 · translator
  • Robert M. Lively 1855–1929 · judge
  • Charlie Everett Lively 1887–1962
  • Charles Elson Lively 1890–1968 · sociologist
  • Buddy Lively 1925–2015 · baseball player

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Lively,
in the records of 4 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States624 records

624 records of the Lively name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 392
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 143
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 40
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 19
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 13
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 10
  • U.S. service members who died in the Vietnam War 4
  • Irish Famine arrivals at New York, 1846–1851 3
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record John L. Lively

    Born 1919 in Louisiana. Enlisted 1943 at Los Angeles, California; firefighter. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1980, buried at Riverside National Cemetery, California.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Bobby Dean Lively

    Born 1941; from East Flat Rock, North Carolina. U.S. Army, indirect fire infantryman; killed in action 1967 in Hua Nghia, South Vietnam.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Henry R. Lively

    Arrived at New York in 1892 aboard the Germanic from Liverpool and Queenstown, aged 24; laborer. From Manchester, England; bound for New York.

    U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)

Showing 3 of 624 records for Lively in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Canada446 records

446 records of the Lively name in Canada
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 439
  • Halifax municipal cemeteries 3
  • Canadian Virtual War Memorial 2
  • Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver 1
  • City of Winnipeg cemetery records 1
  1. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record William Lively

    Killed in the Halifax Explosion of 1917, aged 35; buried at St John's Cemetery, Halifax.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.
  2. A Canadian First World War grave register card for a soldier who died of wounds in 1917
    Example: Canadian war grave register, 1917
    War record Harry Havey Lively

    Died in service in 1944.

    Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada.
  3. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Mable Victoria Lively

    Died 1917 in Antrim, Halifax, Nova Scotia.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.

Showing 3 of 446 records for Lively in Canada.

Counts: Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · Halifax Regional Municipality. Contains information licenced under the Open Government Licence—Halifax. · Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. · City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. · City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0); Canadian First World War circumstances-of-death register (scan by Scottgraham87 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).

Australia37 records

37 records of the Lively name in Australia
  • Tasmanian Names Index 29
  • Queensland State Archives indexes 4
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 3
  • NSW convict, estate and railway indexes 1
  1. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record Thomas Lively

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Oriental Queen, sailing from Plymouth in 1852. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1856.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record Grace Lively

    Died 1904 in South Hobart, Tasmania. Will registered in Tasmania in 1904.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record James Lively

    Arrived in Victoria in 1912 aboard the Kaikoura, aged 20.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 37 records for Lively in Australia.

Counts: Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, with the convicts going on board, etching by Edward William Cooke, 1829, Royal Museums Greenwich (public domain); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

United Kingdom2 records

2 records of the Lively name in the United Kingdom War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead
  1. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record G. Lively

    Nqhth Staffordshire Regiment. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1918.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)
  2. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record F. Lively

    Lancashire Fusiliers. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1918.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)

Counts: National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: C. & E. Morton Ltd roll of honour, 1914–1919, photo by Adrian S Pye via Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Lively.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Lively is.
A volume says what happened to it.

Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.

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