Woolley Surname
Approximately 31,814 people bear this surname
Woolley Surname Definition:
This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'of Wooley,' a parish in the Diocese Bath and Wells; also 'of Woolley,' parishes in the Dioceses Ely and York. The North-English Woolleys hail from Yorkshire. The references will show that the origin is Wolfley, 'the meadow of Ulf,' or Wolf, a common personal name.
Read More About This SurnameWoolley Surname Distribution Map
| Place | Incidence | Frequency | Rank in Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | 13,224 | 1:4,213 | 566 |
| United States | 9,668 | 1:37,491 | 4,642 |
| Australia | 3,997 | 1:6,754 | 993 |
| Canada | 1,393 | 1:26,451 | 3,534 |
| New Zealand | 856 | 1:5,290 | 857 |
| Wales | 579 | 1:5,345 | 586 |
| South Africa | 576 | 1:94,059 | 11,495 |
| Ghana | 416 | 1:64,954 | 6,785 |
| Scotland | 261 | 1:20,513 | 2,383 |
| Brazil | 85 | 1:2,518,522 | 76,509 |
| Spain | 84 | 1:556,572 | 26,793 |
| Haiti | 65 | 1:164,368 | 6,850 |
| Ireland | 62 | 1:75,951 | 4,602 |
| France | 57 | 1:1,165,311 | 123,217 |
| Thailand | 53 | 1:1,332,799 | 187,598 |
| Dominican Republic | 46 | 1:226,803 | 8,136 |
| Northern Ireland | 41 | 1:45,001 | 3,962 |
| Jamaica | 36 | 1:79,721 | 3,712 |
| Switzerland | 32 | 1:256,654 | 21,165 |
| Singapore | 26 | 1:211,835 | 10,313 |
| Argentina | 26 | 1:1,643,977 | 88,124 |
| Qatar | 22 | 1:107,182 | 11,536 |
| Netherlands | 22 | 1:767,599 | 58,330 |
| Jersey | 15 | 1:6,613 | 1,336 |
| Zimbabwe | 13 | 1:1,187,557 | 68,998 |
| United Arab Emirates | 12 | 1:763,523 | 25,625 |
| Belgium | 11 | 1:1,045,149 | 78,166 |
| Sweden | 9 | 1:1,094,084 | 81,336 |
| Italy | 9 | 1:6,795,188 | 113,457 |
| Germany | 8 | 1:10,063,182 | 283,807 |
| Japan | 7 | 1:18,263,470 | 47,869 |
| Isle of Man | 7 | 1:12,260 | 2,387 |
| Malaysia | 6 | 1:4,915,704 | 170,578 |
| Belize | 6 | 1:59,246 | 2,743 |
| Turkey | 6 | 1:12,970,237 | 144,247 |
| Gibraltar | 6 | 1:5,659 | 991 |
| Czechia | 5 | 1:2,126,694 | 115,412 |
| Monaco | 5 | 1:7,413 | 1,114 |
| Hong Kong | 5 | 1:1,467,097 | 5,611 |
| Bermuda | 5 | 1:13,056 | 1,849 |
| Mexico | 4 | 1:31,031,551 | 63,627 |
| Philippines | 4 | 1:25,309,556 | 279,062 |
| Malta | 4 | 1:107,568 | 1,849 |
| Azerbaijan | 3 | 1:3,216,374 | 32,290 |
| China | 3 | 1:455,773,855 | 21,925 |
| Norway | 2 | 1:2,571,143 | 95,402 |
| Finland | 2 | 1:2,748,351 | 72,663 |
| Austria | 2 | 1:4,257,718 | 99,224 |
| Peru | 2 | 1:15,892,062 | 51,966 |
| Zambia | 2 | 1:7,924,961 | 45,994 |
| India | 2 | 1:383,532,691 | 1,645,216 |
| Indonesia | 2 | 1:66,124,597 | 756,638 |
| Bahrain | 1 | 1:1,348,608 | 10,432 |
| Bahamas | 1 | 1:391,751 | 2,737 |
| Albania | 1 | 1:2,914,055 | 29,474 |
| Bangladesh | 1 | 1:159,356,773 | 26,077 |
| South Korea | 1 | 1:51,240,256 | 8,015 |
| Barbados | 1 | 1:287,448 | 2,772 |
| Russia | 1 | 1:144,123,056 | 881,408 |
| Oman | 1 | 1:3,687,971 | 14,390 |
| Norfolk Island | 1 | 1:2,295 | 315 |
| Nigeria | 1 | 1:177,142,758 | 748,972 |
| Morocco | 1 | 1:34,476,099 | 111,471 |
| Mongolia | 1 | 1:2,825,289 | 17,010 |
| Kuwait | 1 | 1:3,800,694 | 27,187 |
| Hungary | 1 | 1:9,816,277 | 73,288 |
| Guam | 1 | 1:160,121 | 4,893 |
| Bulgaria | 1 | 1:6,978,905 | 86,260 |
| Fiji | 1 | 1:894,391 | 4,568 |
| Colombia | 1 | 1:47,774,072 | 44,230 |
| Egypt | 1 | 1:91,935,754 | 132,737 |
| Cyprus | 1 | 1:884,876 | 13,055 |
| Place | Incidence | Frequency | Rank in Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ireland | 37 | 1:119,726 | 7,101 |
| Place | Incidence | Frequency | Rank in Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | 5,871 | 1:4,152 | 613 |
| Wales | 77 | 1:20,369 | 1,182 |
| Scotland | 16 | 1:233,951 | 8,207 |
| Place | Incidence | Frequency | Rank in Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 1,794 | 1:27,993 | 3,433 |
Woolley (56) may also be a first name.
Woolley Surname Meaning
From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history
This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'of Wooley,' a parish in the Diocese Bath and Wells; also 'of Woolley,' parishes in the Dioceses Ely and York. The North-English Woolleys hail from Yorkshire. The references will show that the origin is Wolfley, 'the meadow of Ulf,' or Wolf, a common personal name.
Johannes de Wulley, 1379: Poll Tax of Yorkshire.
Elena de Wolley, 1379: ibid.
Thomas de Wollay, 1379: ibid.
Adam de Wolueley, 1379: ibid.
Robert de Woluelay, 1379: ibid.
1594. John Wooly, London: Register of the University of Oxford.
1601. Thomas Woolley, Warwickshire: ibid.
1682-3. John Bright and Ann Woolley: Marriage Alleg. (Canterbury).
(English) belonging to Woolley (several) = 1 the Wolf-Lea [O.E, wulf + leáh] 2 Wulf(a)’s Lea.
3 the Crooked Lea [Old English wóh + leáh] The Wilts place was Wolley in the 14th cent. The Yorks village was Wolley, Wollay, Wolveley in the 14th cent., Wilvelai in Domesday-Book (as if for Old English wylf, she-wolf). A wulfleáh on wulfleáge’—dat.) occurs in an 8th-century Glouc. charter (‘Cart. Sax.' no. 246).
(English) One who came from Wooley (wolves’ meadow), in Yorkshire.
Anciently written Wolflege and Wolveley, i. e., Anglo-Saxonice, ' mulfes-leag,' a district abounding in wolves-the name of many localities in Saxon times. See the force of corruption in words, which thus brings, like Phaedrus, the Wolf and the Lamb together. For who would suspect, under cover of this fleecy name, the presence of the arch enemy of the fold ' Truly of this surname it may be predicated, that it is a wolf in sheep's clothing.
Local. Wold—ley, uncultivated lands hills without wood.
A location name in Derbyshire.
The Woolleys take the name of a Derbyshire township. William and Edward Woolley were copyholders of Bonsall in the reign of James I. (G.).
Woolley Demographics
Woolley Political Affiliation
in United States
United States
Average
Woolley Last Name Facts
Where Does The Last Name Woolley Come From? nationality or country of origin
Woolley is more commonly found in England than any other country or territory. It may appear in the variant forms:. For other potential spellings of this surname click here.
How Common Is The Last Name Woolley? popularity and diffusion
It is the 17,428th most commonly used family name on earth. It is borne by around 1 in 229,067 people. The last name Woolley occurs mostly in Europe, where 45 percent of Woolley live; 45 percent live in Northern Europe and 45 percent live in British Isles. Woolley is also the 1,321,957th most commonly used given name on earth, held by 56 people.
The surname Woolley is most commonly used in England, where it is held by 13,224 people, or 1 in 4,213. In England it is primarily found in: West Midlands, where 8 percent reside, Staffordshire, where 8 percent reside and Derbyshire, where 8 percent reside. Not including England this last name is found in 71 countries. It also occurs in The United States, where 30 percent reside and Australia, where 13 percent reside.
Woolley Family Population Trend historical fluctuation
The frequency of Woolley has changed through the years. In England the number of people bearing the Woolley surname expanded 225 percent between 1881 and 2014; in The United States it expanded 539 percent between 1880 and 2014; in Wales it expanded 752 percent between 1881 and 2014; in Scotland it expanded 1,631 percent between 1881 and 2014 and in Ireland it expanded 168 percent between 1901 and 2014.
Woolley Last Name Statistics demography
The religious devotion of those carrying the surname is chiefly Catholic (97%) in Ireland.
In The United States those holding the Woolley surname are 15.49% more likely to be registered with the Republican Party than the national average, with 62.26% being registered to vote for the party.
The amount Woolley earn in different countries varies greatly. In South Africa they earn 149.27% more than the national average, earning R 592,368 per year; in United States they earn 10.62% more than the national average, earning $47,732 USD per year and in Canada they earn 11.11% more than the national average, earning $55,204 CAD per year.
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Footnotes
- Surnames are taken as the first part of an person's inherited family name, caste, clan name or in some cases patronymic
- Descriptions may contain details on the name's etymology, origin, ethnicity and history. They are largely reproduced from 3rd party sources; diligence is advised on accepting their validity - more information
- Name distribution statistics are generated from a global database of over 4 billion people - more information
- Heatmap: Dark red means there is a higher occurrence of the name, transitioning to light yellow signifies a progressively lower occurrence. Clicking on selected countries will show mapping at a regional level
- Rank: Name are ranked by incidence using the ordinal ranking method; the name that occurs the most is assigned a rank of 1; name that occur less frequently receive an incremented rank; if two or more name occur the same number of times they are assigned the same rank and successive rank is incremented by the total preceeding names
- Ethnic group cannot necessarily be determined by geographic occurrence
- Similar: Names listed in the "Similar" section are phonetically similar and may not have any relation to Woolley
- To find out more about this surname's family history, lookup records on FamilySearch, MyHeritage, FindMyPast and Ancestry. Further information may be obtained by DNA analysis