How common is the surname Wale?

425 people in the United States had the surname Wale in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 726,460 Americans. It ranked 49,461st of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Wale?

Henry Oscar, British actor (1891-1969).

Where is the surname Wale most common?

Wikidata records people named Wale in the United Kingdom.

Is the surname Wale getting more or less common?

Less common. 492 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 425 in 2010, down 14%.

The surname Wale

An Amharic nickname surname, carried by 425 people in the United States.

1 syllable Soundex W400

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Wale is more common than 69.5% of them.

Origin

Amharic origin

* English surname of Norman origin, from the Anglo-Norman personal name Wale, of Germanic origin, from the name Walo, a byname meaning "foreigner" (see Wallace). This is also from the related Old English wealh (“Welshman”). * Also as an English surname, from Middle English wale (“goodly, amazing”). * Also as an English surname, from Middle English wale (“riverbank”), from Old English walu (“mark from a blow”). * Also as an English surname, variant of Whale, Wheal, which is from Middle English wel (“happy”) or wele (“pool”). * Also as an English surname, from the noun wheel or a nickname from weevil. * As an Ethiopian surname, from a name derived from Amharic ዋለ (walä, “to spend the day”).

Wale 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 425 people named Wale in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 726,460 Americans. That is down 14% since 2000, when the Census counted 492.

#49,461

rank among US surnames

425

people in 2010

0.1

per 100,000 Americans

-13.6%

change since 2000 (was #41,657)

Who is named Wale

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

86% of people named Wale identified as white (not Hispanic), 6.1% as Black (not Hispanic) and 3.8% as Asian and Pacific Islander.

White (not Hispanic) 86%
Black (not Hispanic) 6.1%
Asian and Pacific Islander 3.8%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 3.1%

The Census suppresses very small shares to protect privacy; Native American, Multiracial are not shown.

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Wales

1 notable person on Wikidata, most written-about first

Henry Oscar
British actor (1891-1969)

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Wale

Wale has the Soundex code W400, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code W400.

Questions

Where does the surname Wale come from?: * English surname of Norman origin, from the Anglo-Norman personal name Wale, of Germanic origin, from the name Walo, a byname meaning "foreigner" (see Wallace). This is also from the related Old English wealh (“Welshman”). * Also as an English surname, from Middle English wale (“goodly,…
How common is the surname Wale?: 425 people in the United States had the surname Wale in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 726,460 Americans. It ranked 49,461st of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Wale?: In the 2010 Census, 86% of people named Wale identified as white (not Hispanic), and 6.1% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Wale?: Henry Oscar, British actor (1891-1969).
Where is the surname Wale most common?: Wikidata records people named Wale in the United Kingdom.
What type of surname is Wale?: Wale is a nickname surname, from a description or nickname of an ancestor.
Is the surname Wale getting more or less common?: Less common. 492 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 425 in 2010, down 14%.