# Woolsey (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/woolsey/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A characteristical surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 6,949 |
| US rank (2010) | 5,049 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 44,430 people |
| Change since 2000 | +2.1% (6,805 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

Variant of Wolsey.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Woolsey 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) | 92% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 0.7% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.6% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 1.5% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.7% |
| Two or more races | 2.3% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Woolsey in the United States.

## People named Woolsey

- R. James Woolsey, Jr., American lawyer, diplomat and politician, former director of the CIA (born 1941)
- Sarah Chauncey Woolsey, American writer (1835–1905)
- Lynn Woolsey, American politician (born 1937)
- Robert Woolsey, American comedian

## Similar surnames

Wilsey, Willsey, Wallace, Wells, Willis, Welch, Walsh, Walls, Welsh, Wills, Wiles, Wallis.

## 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.