# Woodley (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/woodley/  
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) | 6,982 |
| US rank (2010) | 5,026 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 44,220 people |
| Change since 2000 | +5.7% (6,603 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | Woodlee |

## Etymology

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

## Who carries it

Share of people named Woodley 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) | 46% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 47% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 3.3% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.3% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.6% |
| Two or more races | 2.8% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Woodley in the United States.

## People named Woodley

- Shailene Woodley, American actress (born 1991)
- Tyron Woodley, American mixed martial artist (born 1982)

## Similar surnames

Woodall, Wadley, Woodell, Wooddell, Whitley, Waddell, Wheatley, Whatley, Whitlow, Whittle, Weddle, Whiteley.

## 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.