# Wales (surname)

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

A surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 5,133 |
| US rank (2010) | 6,602 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 60,149 people |
| Change since 2000 | +3.0% (4,983 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /weɪlz/, 1 syllable |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From Middle English Wales, from Old English Wēalas, plural of wealh (“Celt, Welsh person”), from Proto-West Germanic *walh, from Proto-Germanic *walhaz (“Celt, Roman”). Compare the second element in Cornwall, and also Gaul.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Wales 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) | 88% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 6.1% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.3% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 1.3% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.5% |
| Two or more races | 1.9% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Wales in the United States and Australia.

## People named Wales

- Ethel Wales, actress (1878-1952)
- Lachlan Wales, Australian association football player
- Ross Wales, American swimmer, Olympic bronze medalist
- Howard Wales, American keyboardist (1943–2020)
- John Wales, American politician (1783-1863)

## Similar surnames

Walls, Wiles, Wallis, Walz, Walsh, Walk, Walke, Walshe, Wallace, Wells, Willis, Welch.

## 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.