# Whitley (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/whitley/  
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) | 26,732 |
| US rank (2010) | 1,313 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 11,550 people |
| Change since 2000 | +2.5% (26,078 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From Old English hwīt (“white”) + lēah (“woodland clearing, glade”). Equivalent to white + -ley (“lea”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Whitley 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) | 72% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 23% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.1% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.4% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.5% |
| Two or more races | 1.9% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Whitley in the United States, Belgium, the United Kingdom and Australia.

## People named Whitley

- Kym Whitley, American actress and comedian
- Keith Whitley, American country singer (1954–1989)
- Chris Whitley, American blues/rock singer-songwriter and guitarist
- Trixie Whitley, Belgian musician
- Norman Whitley, British army officer and lacrosse player (1883-1957)
- Gilbert Percy Whitley, Australian ichthyologist and entomologist (1903-1975)

## Similar surnames

Wheatley, Whatley, Whitlow, Whittle, Whiteley, Watley, Whitely, Whitelaw, Whitehill, Waddell, Woodall, Woodley.

## 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.