How common is the surname Bley?

1,260 people in the United States had the surname Bley in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 245,036 Americans. It ranked 20,910th of 162,253 surnames.

What ethnicity is the surname Bley?

In the 2010 Census, 92% of people named Bley identified as white (not Hispanic), and 3.6% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

Who is the most famous person named Bley?

Carla Bley, American jazz composer, pianist, organist and bandleader (1936–2023).

Where is the surname Bley most common?

Wikidata records people named Bley in the United States.

Is the surname Bley getting more or less common?

Less common. 1,264 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 1,260 in 2010, down 0.3%.

The surname Bley

A German occupational surname, carried by 1,260 people in the United States.

1 syllable Soundex B400

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Bley is more common than 87.1% of them.

Origin

German origin

From the German occupational surname, from Middle High German bli (“lead”), from Old High German blio.

Bley is an occupational surname: named after the work an ancestor did.

One of 1,101 German surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 1,260 people named Bley in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 245,036 Americans. That is about the same as in 2000, when the Census counted 1,264.

#20,910

rank among US surnames

1,260

people in 2010

0.4

per 100,000 Americans

-0.3%

change since 2000 (was #19,727)

Who is named Bley

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

92% of people named Bley identified as white (not Hispanic), 3.6% as Hispanic or Latino (any race) and 1.5% as two or more races.

White (not Hispanic) 92%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 3.6%
Two or more races 1.5%
Black (not Hispanic) 1.2%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.9%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.6%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Bleys

1 notable person on Wikidata, most written-about first

Carla Bley
American jazz composer, pianist, organist and bandleader (1936–2023)

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Bley

Bley has the Soundex code B400, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code B400.

Other German surnames

All 1,101 German surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Bley come from?: From the German occupational surname, from Middle High German bli (“lead”), from Old High German blio.
How common is the surname Bley?: 1,260 people in the United States had the surname Bley in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 245,036 Americans. It ranked 20,910th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Bley?: In the 2010 Census, 92% of people named Bley identified as white (not Hispanic), and 3.6% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
Who is the most famous person named Bley?: Carla Bley, American jazz composer, pianist, organist and bandleader (1936–2023).
Where is the surname Bley most common?: Wikidata records people named Bley in the United States.
What type of surname is Bley?: Bley is an occupational surname, named after the work an ancestor did.
Is the surname Bley getting more or less common?: Less common. 1,264 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 1,260 in 2010, down 0.3%.