Explore the Family Name Melley

The meaning of Melley

Irish: variant of Melly, an Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Meallaigh ‘descendant of Meallach’, a personal name based on meall ‘pleasant’. Some characteristic forenames: Irish Brendan.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Melley in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Melley has seen a slight decrease in recent years. In 2000, Melley ranked as the 57,705th most popular surname in the United States, with approximately 330 individuals bearing this name. By 2010 however, its rank had dropped to 68,770 and the count of individuals with this surname also declined to 286, representing a decrease of around 13.33 percent. The proportion of people named Melley per 100,000 also decreased from 0.12 in 2000 to 0.1 in 2010, marking a decrease of 16.67 percent.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#57,705	#68,770	-19.18%
Count	330	286	-13.33%
Proportion per 100k	0.12	0.1	-16.67%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Melley

As for the ethnic identity associated with the surname Melley, according to the Decennial U.S. Census data, there is minimal change over the decade. In both 2000 and 2010, the majority of individuals bearing the surname identified as White, with a slight increase from 94.24 percent to 94.41 percent. The percentage of those identifying as Hispanic also rose slightly from 2.73 percent to 3.15 percent. However, the proportion of individuals identifying as Black changed notably - it was 1.82 percent in 2000 but recorded as zero in 2010. No individuals with the surname Melley identified as Asian/Pacific Islander, Two or more races, or American Indian and Alaskan Native during either census year.

	2000	2010	Change
White	94.24%	94.41%	0.18%
Hispanic	2.73%	3.15%	15.38%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Two or More Races	0%	0%	0%
Black	1.82%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%