# Oakley (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/oakley/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname from Old English, derived from the place names in England.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | English |
| Type | place, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 17,238 |
| US rank (2010) | 2,099 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 17,911 people |
| Change since 2000 | +3.0% (16,733 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈoʊkli/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From Old English Āclēa, from āc (“oak”) + lēah (“woodland clearing, glade”), thus a clearing in an oak forest; equivalent to oak + -ley (“lea”). Compare Ackley, Akeley and Oakleigh, which have the same origin.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Oakley in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 85% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 9.9% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.1% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.5% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.6% |
| Two or more races | 1.9% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Oakley in the United States.

## People named Oakley

- Annie Oakley, American exhibition sharpshooter (1860–1926)
- Tyler Oakley, American YouTuber
- Charles Oakley, American basketball player (born 1963)
- Margaret Oakley Dayhoff, American biochemist (1925-1983)
- Berry Oakley, American bassist (1948-1972)
- Bill Oakley, American writer and producer
- Violet Oakley, American artist (1874-1961)

## Similar surnames

O'Kelly, Oxley, Ogle, Ousley, Owsley, O'Kelley.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.