Explore the Family Name Pelky

The meaning of Pelky

1. Americanized form of French Pelletier ‘furrier’. Alteration of the French ending -tier to English -k(e)y is typical for American French surnames. Compare Pelkey and Pilkey. 2. Possibly also an Americanized form of Polish Pełka or Jewish Pelka.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Pelky has experienced a slight increase in popularity from 2000 to 2010. In 2000, it ranked 43,629th and by 2010 it had moved up to 43,206th place. This represents a growth rate of approximately 0.97%. The number of people bearing this surname also increased during this period, with the count rising from 466 individuals in 2000, to 500 in 2010, marking a growth of 7.3%. However, the proportion of people named Pelky per 100,000 remained stable at 0.17.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#43,629	#43,206	0.97%
Count	466	500	7.3%
Proportion per 100k	0.17	0.17	0%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Pelky

The ethnic identity associated with the surname Pelky has seen some changes in the decade between 2000 and 2010, according to the Decennial U.S. Census data. The percentage of individuals identifying as white decreased slightly from 93.56% in 2000 to 91.20% in 2010. Those identifying as Hispanic or as belonging to two or more races saw increases. The Hispanic representation rose from 1.50% in 2000 to 2.40% in 2010, while those identifying with two or more races grew from 1.29% to 1.80%. Individuals identifying as American Indian and Alaskan Native also saw a small increase from 3.00% to 3.20%. There was no recorded change for those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander or Black.

	2000	2010	Change
White	93.56%	91.2%	-2.52%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	3%	3.2%	6.67%
Hispanic	1.5%	2.4%	60%
Two or More Races	1.29%	1.8%	39.53%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%