# Whaley (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/whaley/  
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) | 22,833 |
| US rank (2010) | 1,575 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 13,522 people |
| Change since 2000 | +3.8% (22,000 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From Old English wielle (“well, spring”) + lēah (“woodland clearing, glade”). Equivalent to well + -ley (“lea”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Whaley 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) | 81% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 15% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 1.7% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.6% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.4% |
| Two or more races | 1.8% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Whaley in the United States.

## People named Whaley

- Frank Whaley, American actor
- Michael Whaley, American actor

## Similar surnames

Wiley, Wahl, Walley, Wale, Wall, Willey, Will, Wylie, Woolley, Weil, Wooley, Willie.

## 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.