# Wesley (surname)

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

A habitational surname from Old English.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | English |
| Type | place, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 23,135 |
| US rank (2010) | 1,555 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 13,345 people |
| Change since 2000 | +6.4% (21,734 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈwɛsli/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

Several places in England, from Old English west (“west”) + lēah (“wood, clearing”). Equivalent to west + -ley (“lea”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Wesley 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) | 42% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 49% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.5% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.9% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 2.8% |
| Two or more races | 3.0% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Wesley in the United States, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland.

## People named Wesley

- John Wesley, British cleric and founder of the Methodist movement (1703-1791)
- Rutina Wesley, American actress
- Fred Wesley, American jazz trombonist
- David Wesley, American basketball player
- John Wesley, American guitarist and singer
- John Wesley, American actor (1947-2019)
- Byron Wesley, American basketball player (born 1992)
- Blake Wesley, American basketball player (born 2003)
- William Wellesley-Pole, 3rd Earl of Mornington, Anglo-Irish politician (1763-1845)
- Dorothy B. Porter, American librarian (1905-1995)

## Similar surnames

Wessel, Woosley, Weisel, Weekley, Weakley, Weigle, Weekly, Weigel, Wigley, Weikel, Wiegel, Wagley.

## 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.