How common is the surname Welles?

1,404 people in the United States had the surname Welles in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 219,904 Americans. It ranked 19,291st of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Welles?

Orson Welles, American actor and filmmaker (1915–1985), followed by Gideon Welles.

Where is the surname Welles most common?

Wikidata records people named Welles in the United States.

Is the surname Welles getting more or less common?

Less common. 1,533 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 1,404 in 2010, down 8.4%.

The surname Welles

An English surname, carried by 1,404 people in the United States.

1 syllable Soundex W420

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Welles is more common than 88.1% of them.

Origin

English origin

Named after Well, Lincolnshire, from Old English wielle (“fountain, spring”). Cognate with English well.

One of 1,446 English surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 1,404 people named Welles in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 219,904 Americans. That is down 8.4% since 2000, when the Census counted 1,533.

#19,291

rank among US surnames

1,404

people in 2010

0.5

per 100,000 Americans

-8.4%

change since 2000 (was #17,073)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#19,282	Lovitt	1,405	219,748
#19,291	Vasko	1,404	219,904
#19,296	Bevers	1,403	220,061

Who is named Welles

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

88% of people named Welles identified as white (not Hispanic), 7.0% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.1% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 88%
Black (not Hispanic) 7.0%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.1%
Asian and Pacific Islander 1.5%
Two or more races 1.1%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.4%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Welless

8 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Orson Welles
American actor and filmmaker (1915–1985)
Gideon Welles
American government official; United States Secretary of the Navy from 1861 to 1869 (1802–
Sumner Welles
American government official and diplomat (1892-1961)
Jennifer Welles
American pornographic actress and glamour model (1937–2018)
Tori Welles
American pornographic actress and director, born 1967
Samuel Paul Welles
American palaeontologist (1909–1997)
Mel Welles
American film actor (1924-2005)
Terri Welles
American model and actress, born 1956

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Welles

Welles has the Soundex code W420, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code W420.

Other English surnames

All 1,446 English surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Welles come from?: Named after Well, Lincolnshire, from Old English wielle (“fountain, spring”). Cognate with English well.
How common is the surname Welles?: 1,404 people in the United States had the surname Welles in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 219,904 Americans. It ranked 19,291st of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Welles?: In the 2010 Census, 88% of people named Welles identified as white (not Hispanic), and 7.0% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Welles?: Orson Welles, American actor and filmmaker (1915–1985), followed by Gideon Welles.
Where is the surname Welles most common?: Wikidata records people named Welles in the United States.
Is the surname Welles getting more or less common?: Less common. 1,533 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 1,404 in 2010, down 8.4%.