How common is the surname Paley?

1,505 people in the United States had the surname Paley in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 205,147 Americans. It ranked 18,401st of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Paley?

Grace Paley, American writer and activist (1922–2007), followed by William S. Paley.

Where is the surname Paley most common?

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

Is the surname Paley getting more or less common?

Less common. 1,529 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 1,505 in 2010, down 1.6%.

Is Paley also a first name?

Yes. Paley is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Paley

A surname, carried by 1,505 people in the United States.

2 syllables Soundex P400

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Paley is more common than 88.7% of them.

Origin

A surname.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 1,505 people named Paley in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 205,147 Americans. That is down 1.6% since 2000, when the Census counted 1,529.

#18,401

rank among US surnames

1,505

people in 2010

0.5

per 100,000 Americans

-1.6%

change since 2000 (was #17,122)

Who is named Paley

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

90% of people named Paley identified as white (not Hispanic), 6.0% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.9% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 90%
Black (not Hispanic) 6.0%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.9%
Two or more races 0.8%

The Census suppresses very small shares to protect privacy; Asian & Pacific Islander, Native American are not shown.

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Paleys

3 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Grace Paley
American writer and activist (1922–2007)
William S. Paley
American television executive and art collector (1901-1990)
Mary Paley Marshall
British economist (1850–1944)

Notable Paleys come mostly from the United States (2) 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 Paley

Paley has the Soundex code P400, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code P400.

Questions

How common is the surname Paley?: 1,505 people in the United States had the surname Paley in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 205,147 Americans. It ranked 18,401st of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Paley?: In the 2010 Census, 90% of people named Paley identified as white (not Hispanic), and 6.0% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Paley?: Grace Paley, American writer and activist (1922–2007), followed by William S. Paley.
Where is the surname Paley most common?: Wikidata records people named Paley in the United States and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
Is the surname Paley getting more or less common?: Less common. 1,529 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 1,505 in 2010, down 1.6%.
Is Paley also a first name?: Yes. Paley is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.