How common is the surname Wesley?

23,135 people in the United States had the surname Wesley in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 13,345 Americans. It ranked 1,555th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Wesley?

John Wesley, British cleric and founder of the Methodist movement (1703-1791), followed by Rutina Wesley.

Where is the surname Wesley most common?

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

How do you pronounce Wesley?

Wesley is /ˈwɛsli/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname Wesley getting more or less common?

More common. 21,734 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 23,135 in 2010, up 6.4%.

Is Wesley also a first name?

Yes. Wesley is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Wesley

An English place surname, carried by 23,135 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈwɛsli/ 2 syllables Soundex W240 Also a first name

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Wesley is more common than 99% of them.

Origin

English origin

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

Wesley is a place surname: taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.

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 23,135 people named Wesley in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 13,345 Americans. That is up 6.4% since 2000, when the Census counted 21,734.

#1,555

rank among US surnames

23,135

people in 2010

7.8

per 100,000 Americans

+6.4%

change since 2000 (was #1,512)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#1,546	Ivey	23,263	13,272
#1,547	Gee	23,241	13,285
#1,548	Butts	23,227	13,293
#1,549	Maher	23,222	13,295
#1,550	Jewell	23,187	13,315
#1,551	Barragan	23,176	13,322
#1,552	Machado	23,170	13,325

Who is named Wesley

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

49% of people named Wesley identified as Black (not Hispanic), 42% as white (not Hispanic) and 3.0% as two or more races.

Black (not Hispanic) 49%
White (not Hispanic) 42%
Two or more races 3.0%
American Indian and Alaska Native 2.8%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.5%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.9%

Compare: most common surnames among Black Americans.

Famous Wesleys

10 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

John Wesley
British cleric and founder of the Methodist movement (1703-1791)
Rutina Wesley
American actress, born 1978
Fred Wesley
American jazz trombonist, born 1943
David Wesley
American basketball player, born 1970
John Wesley
American guitarist and singer, born 1962
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)

Notable Wesleys come mostly from the United States (8), the Kingdom of Great Britain (1) and the Kingdom of Ireland (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Wesley

Wesley has the Soundex code W240, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code W240.

Other English surnames

All 1,446 English surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Wesley come from?: Several places in England, from Old English west (“west”) + lēah (“wood, clearing”). Equivalent to west + -ley (“lea”).
How common is the surname Wesley?: 23,135 people in the United States had the surname Wesley in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 13,345 Americans. It ranked 1,555th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Wesley?: In the 2010 Census, 49% of people named Wesley identified as Black (not Hispanic), and 42% as white (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Wesley?: John Wesley, British cleric and founder of the Methodist movement (1703-1791), followed by Rutina Wesley.
Where is the surname Wesley most common?: Wikidata records people named Wesley in the United States, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland.
How do you pronounce Wesley?: Wesley is /ˈwɛsli/, 2 syllables.
What type of surname is Wesley?: Wesley is a place surname, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.
Is the surname Wesley getting more or less common?: More common. 21,734 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 23,135 in 2010, up 6.4%.
Is Wesley also a first name?: Yes. Wesley is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.