How common is the surname Whaley?

22,833 people in the United States had the surname Whaley in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 13,522 Americans. It ranked 1,575th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Whaley?

Frank Whaley, American actor, followed by Michael Whaley.

Where is the surname Whaley most common?

Wikidata records people named Whaley in the United States.

Is the surname Whaley getting more or less common?

More common. 22,000 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 22,833 in 2010, up 3.8%.

The surname Whaley

An English place surname, carried by 22,833 people in the United States.

2 syllables Soundex W400

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

Origin

English origin

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

Whaley 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 22,833 people named Whaley in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 13,522 Americans. That is up 3.8% since 2000, when the Census counted 22,000.

#1,575

rank among US surnames

22,833

people in 2010

7.7

per 100,000 Americans

+3.8%

change since 2000 (was #1,484)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#1,567	Butcher	22,978	13,437
#1,568	Ornelas	22,969	13,442
#1,569	Forrest	22,954	13,451
#1,570	Colbert	22,940	13,459
#1,571	Aleman	22,927	13,466
#1,572	Rodriquez	22,892	13,487
#1,573	Arrington	22,840	13,518

Who is named Whaley

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

81% of people named Whaley identified as white (not Hispanic), 15% as Black (not Hispanic) and 1.8% as two or more races.

White (not Hispanic) 81%
Black (not Hispanic) 15%
Two or more races 1.8%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 1.7%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.6%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.4%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Whaleys

2 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Frank Whaley
American actor, born 1963
Michael Whaley
American actor, born 1962

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Whaley

Whaley has the Soundex code W400, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code W400.

Other English surnames

All 1,446 English surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Whaley come from?: From Old English wielle (“well, spring”) + lēah (“woodland clearing, glade”). Equivalent to well + -ley (“lea”).
How common is the surname Whaley?: 22,833 people in the United States had the surname Whaley in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 13,522 Americans. It ranked 1,575th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Whaley?: In the 2010 Census, 81% of people named Whaley identified as white (not Hispanic), and 15% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Whaley?: Frank Whaley, American actor, followed by Michael Whaley.
Where is the surname Whaley most common?: Wikidata records people named Whaley in the United States.
What type of surname is Whaley?: Whaley is a place surname, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.
Is the surname Whaley getting more or less common?: More common. 22,000 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 22,833 in 2010, up 3.8%.