Explore the Family Name Whye

The meaning of Whye

1. English: variant of Wye, either a habitational name from Wye in Kent (probably from Old English wīg, wēoh ‘idol, holy place’), or a variant of Guy. 2. Possibly an Americanized form of German Weihe.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Whye saw a slight increase in count from 329 in 2000 to 339 in 2010, marking a growth of 3.04%. However, the popularity ranking of this surname dropped slightly from 57849 to 59603 during the same period, representing a decline of 3.03%. The proportion per 100,000 also decreased by 8.33%, indicating that while the absolute number of people with the Whye surname grew, it became less common relative to other surnames.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#57,849	#59,603	-3.03%
Count	329	339	3.04%
Proportion per 100k	0.12	0.11	-8.33%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Whye

With regard to ethnic identity, the 2010 U.S. Census shows some shifts among those bearing the Whye surname. Individuals identifying as Black made up the largest percentage of the Whye population at 80.24%, down slightly from 83.59% in 2000. Those identifying as White decreased from 13.98% to 11.80%. The most significant change was noted in individuals identifying with two or more races, which rose from 1.82% to 4.72%. Additionally, a small proportion began identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander and Hispanic in 2010, where there were no recorded individuals in these categories in 2000. No Whye individuals identified as American Indian and Alaskan Native in either census year. All these statistics are based on the Decennial U.S. Census data.

	2000	2010	Change
Black	83.59%	80.24%	-4.01%
White	13.98%	11.8%	-15.59%
Two or More Races	1.82%	4.72%	159.34%
Hispanic	0%	1.77%	0%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	1.47%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%