How common is the surname Smiley?

19,829 people in the United States had the surname Smiley in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 15,570 Americans. It ranked 1,812th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Smiley?

Jane Smiley, American novelist, followed by Michael Smiley.

Where is the surname Smiley most common?

Wikidata records people named Smiley in the United States and the United Kingdom.

How do you pronounce Smiley?

Smiley is /ˈsmaɪli/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname Smiley getting more or less common?

More common. 19,014 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 19,829 in 2010, up 4.3%.

What are other spellings of Smiley?

Smellie, Smylie, Smyly and Smilie.

The surname Smiley

A nickname surname, carried by 19,829 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈsmaɪli/ 2 syllables Soundex S540

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Smiley is more common than 98.9% of them.

Origin

A Scottish surname transferred from the nickname, perhaps originally a byname for a happy, smiling person.

Smiley is a nickname surname: from a description or nickname of an ancestor.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 19,829 people named Smiley in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 15,570 Americans. That is up 4.3% since 2000, when the Census counted 19,014.

#1,812

rank among US surnames

19,829

people in 2010

6.7

per 100,000 Americans

+4.3%

change since 2000 (was #1,728)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#1,803	Blount	19,878	15,532
#1,804	Murdock	19,873	15,536
#1,805	Street	19,866	15,541
#1,806	Lockwood	19,865	15,542
#1,807	Hinson	19,857	15,548
#1,808	Rudolph	19,854	15,551
#1,809	Waiters	19,853	15,552

Who is named Smiley

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

62% of people named Smiley identified as white (not Hispanic), 31% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.3% as two or more races.

White (not Hispanic) 62%
Black (not Hispanic) 31%
Two or more races 2.3%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.2%
American Indian and Alaska Native 1.9%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.4%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Smileys

3 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Jane Smiley
American novelist, born 1949
Michael Smiley
British actor, born 1963
Joseph W. Smiley
American actor (1870-1945)

Notable Smileys come mostly from the United States (2) and the United Kingdom (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Smellie
Smylie
Smyly
Smilie

Surnames that sound like Smiley

Smiley has the Soundex code S540, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code S540.

Questions

How common is the surname Smiley?: 19,829 people in the United States had the surname Smiley in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 15,570 Americans. It ranked 1,812th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Smiley?: In the 2010 Census, 62% of people named Smiley identified as white (not Hispanic), and 31% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Smiley?: Jane Smiley, American novelist, followed by Michael Smiley.
Where is the surname Smiley most common?: Wikidata records people named Smiley in the United States and the United Kingdom.
How do you pronounce Smiley?: Smiley is /ˈsmaɪli/, 2 syllables.
What type of surname is Smiley?: Smiley is a nickname surname, from a description or nickname of an ancestor.
Is the surname Smiley getting more or less common?: More common. 19,014 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 19,829 in 2010, up 4.3%.
What are other spellings of Smiley?: Smellie, Smylie, Smyly and Smilie.