Explore the Family Name Perley

The meaning of Perley

1. English: variant of of Purley. This surname is very rare in Britain. 2. Possibly also a variant of Berley 2, a surname of Swiss German or German origin. 3. Possibly also an Americanized form of some similar-sounding Jewish surname. History: Allan Perley from Wales was in Ipswich, Essex County, MA, by 1636.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Perley has seen a decline between 2000 and 2010. The rank of the surname dropped from 28,790 in 2000 to 36,379 in 2010, marking a decrease of roughly 26 percent. Similarly, the count of individuals with this surname decreased by approximately 21 percent, from 778 in 2000 to 615 in 2010. In terms of proportion per 100,000 people, there was also a decrease of about 28 percent, falling from 0.29 in 2000 to 0.21 in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#28,790	#36,379	-26.36%
Count	778	615	-20.95%
Proportion per 100k	0.29	0.21	-27.59%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Perley

When it comes to the ethnicity of individuals with the Perley surname, the Decennial U.S. Census data shows some changes between 2000 and 2010. While the majority identified as White (92.03% in 2000 and 91.71% in 2010), there were significant increases in individuals identifying as two or more races (from 0.64% to 1.63%) and Hispanic (from 1.41% to 2.44%). However, the number of individuals identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander and Black dropped to zero, while those identifying as American Indian and Alaskan Native decreased by about 21 percent, from 4.11% in 2000 to 3.25% in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
White	92.03%	91.71%	-0.35%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	4.11%	3.25%	-20.92%
Hispanic	1.41%	2.44%	73.05%
Two or More Races	0.64%	1.63%	154.69%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.9%	0%	0%
Black	0.9%	0%	0%