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The surname Presley

A surname, carried by 18,384 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈpɹɛsli/ 2 syllables Soundex P624 Also a first name

Presley: #1,968 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#10,001Dubon Presley #1,968, 18,384 people Presley: #1,968 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#100Jimenez Presley #1,968, 18,384 people
Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Presley is more common than 98.8% of them.

Origin

The English surname is usually a variant of Priestley, from Old English prēost (“priest”) + lēah (“wood, clearing”). Equivalent to priest + -ley (“lea”). The place-name in Scotland may be from Pictish, equivalent to Welsh prys (“bush”) + Welsh lle (“place”).

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 18,384 people named Presley in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 16,794 Americans. That is up 3.9% since 2000, when the Census counted 17,687.

#1,968
rank among US surnames
18,384
people in 2010
6.2
per 100,000 Americans
+3.9%
change since 2000 (was #1,866)
RankSurnamePeople1 in
#1,959Keen18,45916,726
#1,960Woody18,43416,749
#1,961Luke18,42516,757
#1,962McHugh18,42216,760
#1,963Negron18,41316,768
#1,964Cope18,41016,771
#1,965Triplett18,40816,772

Who is named Presley

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

75% of people named Presley identified as white (not Hispanic), 19% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.2% as two or more races.

  • White (not Hispanic) 75%
  • Black (not Hispanic) 19%
  • Two or more races 2.2%
  • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 1.8%
  • American Indian and Alaska Native 0.9%
  • Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Presleys

5 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

  • Elvis Presley
    American singer and actor (1935–1977)
  • Lisa Marie Presley
    American singer-songwriter (1968–2023)
  • Priscilla Presley
    American actress and businesswoman, born 1945
  • Angaleena Presley
    American country music singer-songwriter, born 1976
  • Margaret Woodbridge
    American swimmer (1902–1995)

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

  • Preslee
  • Presly
  • Preslea
  • Presleigh
  • Presli
  • Preslie

Surnames that sound like Presley

Presley has the Soundex code P624, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code P624.

Questions

Where does the surname Presley come from?
The English surname is usually a variant of Priestley, from Old English prēost (“priest”) + lēah (“wood, clearing”). Equivalent to priest + -ley (“lea”). The place-name in Scotland may be from Pictish, equivalent to Welsh prys (“bush”) + Welsh lle (“place”).
How common is the surname Presley?
18,384 people in the United States had the surname Presley in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 16,794 Americans. It ranked 1,968th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Presley?
In the 2010 Census, 75% of people named Presley identified as white (not Hispanic), and 19% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Presley?
Elvis Presley, American singer and actor (1935–1977), followed by Lisa Marie Presley.
Where is the surname Presley most common?
Wikidata records people named Presley in the United States.
How do you pronounce Presley?
Presley is /ˈpɹɛsli/, 2 syllables.
Is the surname Presley getting more or less common?
More common. 17,687 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 18,384 in 2010, up 3.9%.
What are other spellings of Presley?
Preslee, Presly, Preslea, Presleigh, Presli and Preslie.
Is Presley also a first name?
Yes. Presley 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.