How common is the surname Colley?

8,887 people in the United States had the surname Colley in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 34,741 Americans. It ranked 3,996th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Colley?

Kenneth Colley, British actor (1937–2025), followed by George Pomeroy Colley.

Where is the surname Colley most common?

Wikidata records people named Colley in the United States, the United Kingdom and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

Is the surname Colley getting more or less common?

More common. 8,707 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 8,887 in 2010, up 2.1%.

The surname Colley

A surname, carried by 8,887 people in the United States.

2 syllables Soundex C400

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Colley is more common than 97.5% of them.

Origin

A surname.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 8,887 people named Colley in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 34,741 Americans. That is up 2.1% since 2000, when the Census counted 8,707.

#3,996

rank among US surnames

8,887

people in 2010

3.0

per 100,000 Americans

+2.1%

change since 2000 (was #3,742)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#3,987	Clausen	8,906	34,667
#3,988	Chew	8,905	34,671
#3,989	Haase	8,904	34,675
#3,991	Outlaw	8,901	34,687
#3,992	Sabo	8,899	34,694
#3,993	Deng	8,898	34,698
#3,994	Teixeira	8,895	34,710

Who is named Colley

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

82% of people named Colley identified as white (not Hispanic), 12% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.4% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 82%
Black (not Hispanic) 12%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.4%
Two or more races 1.9%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.9%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Colleys

4 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Kenneth Colley
British actor (1937–2025)
George Pomeroy Colley
British Army general (1835–1881)
Scott Colley
American jazz bassist and composer, born 1963
Minnie Pearl
American comedian and country singer (1912–1996)

Notable Colleys come mostly from the United States (2), the United Kingdom (1) and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Colley

Colley has the Soundex code C400, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code C400.

Questions

How common is the surname Colley?: 8,887 people in the United States had the surname Colley in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 34,741 Americans. It ranked 3,996th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Colley?: In the 2010 Census, 82% of people named Colley identified as white (not Hispanic), and 12% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Colley?: Kenneth Colley, British actor (1937–2025), followed by George Pomeroy Colley.
Where is the surname Colley most common?: Wikidata records people named Colley in the United States, the United Kingdom and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
Is the surname Colley getting more or less common?: More common. 8,707 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 8,887 in 2010, up 2.1%.