Explore the Family Name Palley

The meaning of Palley

1. Jewish (from Belarus) and English: variant of Paley. 2. French: from the Old French word palet, meaning ‘stake, stick’ and ‘fencing’, and also denoting a kind of head armor. This surname is very rare in France.

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

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

Based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Palley saw a drop in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it ranked 59,916 but fell to 65,593 by 2010, indicating a decrease of about 9.47%. Similarly, the number of individuals with the surname decreased from 315 in 2000 to 302 in 2010, a decline of around 4.13%. The proportion per 100,000 also declined by 16.67% from 0.12 in 2000 to 0.10 in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#59,916	#65,593	-9.47%
Count	315	302	-4.13%
Proportion per 100k	0.12	0.1	-16.67%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Palley

Regarding the ethnic identity associated with the surname Palley, data from the Decennial U.S. Census suggests that there were changes between the years 2000 and 2010. In 2000, 92.38% of those carrying the Palley surname identified as White, decreasing to 87.09% in 2010. There was an increase in the percentage who identify as Hispanic, rising by 212.58% from 1.59% in 2000 to 4.97% in 2010. Additionally, those identifying as Black increased slightly, from 4.13% to 4.64%. Unfortunately, the data for those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian and Alaskan Native was suppressed for privacy. However, it can be noted that the percentage of those identifying as two or more races dropped to zero in 2010 from 1.90% in 2000.

	2000	2010	Change
White	92.38%	87.09%	-5.73%
Hispanic	1.59%	4.97%	212.58%
Black	4.13%	4.64%	12.35%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Two or More Races	1.9%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%