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Name Lineage

    The surname Wellesley

    A surname, carried by 161 people in the United States.

    Pronounced /ˈwɛlɪzli/ 2 syllables Soundex W424

    Wellesley: #109,758 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#10Martinez#100Jimenez#1,000Archer#10,001Dubon Wellesley #109,758, 161 people Wellesley: #109,758 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#100Jimenez#10,001Dubon Wellesley #109,758, 161 people
    Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Wellesley is more common than 32.4% of them.

    Origin

    From the name of the town Wells (“springs”) + lēah (“woodland”), thus 'the woodland by the springs'.

    Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

    How common it is

    2010 US Census

    There were 161 people named Wellesley in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 1,917,674 Americans. That is up 8.8% since 2000, when the Census counted 148.

    #109,758
    rank among US surnames
    161
    people in 2010
    0.1
    per 100,000 Americans
    +8.8%
    change since 2000 (was #110,523)

    Who is named Wellesley

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

    71% of people named Wellesley identified as white (not Hispanic), 19% as Black (not Hispanic) and 9.3% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

    • White (not Hispanic) 71%
    • Black (not Hispanic) 19%
    • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 9.3%
    The Census suppresses very small shares to protect privacy; Asian & Pacific Islander, Native American are not shown.

    Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

    Famous Wellesleys

    2 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

    • Henry Wellesley, 1st Earl Cowley
      British diplomat (1804-1884)
    • Charles Wellesley
      Actor (1873-1946)

    Notable Wellesleys come mostly from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1) and the United States (1).

    Spellings and sound-alikes

    Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

    Variant spellings

    • Wellersley
    • Wellsley

    Wellesley has the Soundex code W424, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code W424.

    Questions

    Where does the surname Wellesley come from?
    From the name of the town Wells (“springs”) + lēah (“woodland”), thus 'the woodland by the springs'.
    How common is the surname Wellesley?
    161 people in the United States had the surname Wellesley in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 1,917,674 Americans. It ranked 109,758th of 162,253 surnames.
    What ethnicity is the surname Wellesley?
    In the 2010 Census, 71% of people named Wellesley identified as white (not Hispanic), and 19% as Black (not Hispanic).
    Who is the most famous person named Wellesley?
    Henry Wellesley, 1st Earl Cowley, British diplomat (1804-1884), followed by Charles Wellesley.
    Where is the surname Wellesley most common?
    Wikidata records people named Wellesley in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the United States.
    How do you pronounce Wellesley?
    Wellesley is /ˈwɛlɪzli/, 2 syllables.
    Is the surname Wellesley getting more or less common?
    More common. 148 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 161 in 2010, up 8.8%.
    What are other spellings of Wellesley?
    Wellersley and Wellsley.