2000
#605
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 50,852
First available Census row
Per 100,000 18.85
Uncommon Last name
Foley
An Irish occupational surname referring to a descendant of a plunderer or marauder.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 57,068 Americans carry the last name Foley. That puts it at #667 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 16.65 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 6,006 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Foley surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Foley with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
57K
1 in 6,006
Census rank
#667
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
16.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
50K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 49,766 bearers of the surname Foley in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 16.65 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 667th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Foley, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.5%. The next largest groups are Black (3.3%) and Two or More Races (3.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Foley
The surname Foley is of Irish origin, derived from the Gaelic words "faille" or "failghea", meaning a leader or ruler. It is believed to have originated in County Kerry, Ireland, in the Middle Ages.
The name Foley was first recorded in the Annals of the Four Masters, a chronicle of medieval Irish history, in the 13th century. The earliest known bearer of the name was Dermot O'Foley, a chieftain of the O'Foley clan in County Kerry, who lived around 1200 AD.
In the 16th century, the Foley family was prominent in the area around Dingle, County Kerry, and they held significant land and influence in the region. The name is also associated with the town of Callan, County Kilkenny, where the Foleys were a prominent family in the 17th century.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Foley appears in the Fiants of the Tudor Sovereigns, a collection of medieval records from the 16th century, where a Thomas Foley is mentioned in 1564.
A famous bearer of the name was Sir Thomas Foley (1617-1677), an English businessman and politician who served as Lord Mayor of London in 1648-1649. He was a prominent figure in the English Civil War and supported the Parliamentarian cause.
Another notable Foley was John Henry Foley (1818-1874), an Irish sculptor known for his works in Dublin, including the O'Connell Monument and the sculptures on the Customs House façade.
In the United States, one of the earliest recorded bearers of the name was John Foley (1735-1817), an Irish immigrant who served as a captain in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.
Paul Foley (1644-1699) was an English lawyer and politician who served as the Speaker of the House of Commons from 1695 to 1698, during the reign of King William III.
The name Foley has also been associated with various place names, such as Foley Street in Dublin, Ireland, and Foley, Alabama, in the United States, which was named after a prominent local family.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Foley
Among Census respondents with the surname Foley, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.5%. The next largest groups are Black (3.3%) and Two or More Races (3.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Foley bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Foley surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.5% · 44,536
- Black or African American3.3% · 1,636
- Two or more races3.2% · 1,584
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 1,527
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 401
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 82
Timeline
Historical Census data for Foley
Foley appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#661
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 51,865
+1,013 bearers (+2.0%)
Per 100,000 17.58
Rank movement Down 56 places
2020
#667
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 49,766
-2,099 bearers (-4.0%)
Per 100,000 16.65
Rank movement Down 6 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #605 | 50,852 | 18.85 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #661 | 51,865 | 17.58 | +1,013 bearers (+2.0%) | Down 56 places |
| 2020 | #667 | 49,766 | 16.65 | -2,099 bearers (-4.0%) | Down 6 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Foley surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #661 | #667 | -0.9% |
| Count | 51,865 | 49,766 | -4.0% |
| Per 100K | 17.58 | 16.65 | -5.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Foley bearers went from 51,865 to 49,766 (-4.0% change). The surname moved down 6 positions in the national ranking, going from #661 to #667.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Foley
FAQ
Foley surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Foley?
Name Census estimates that about 57,068 living Americans carry the surname Foley. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 6,006 residents.
How common is Foley?
Foley ranks #667 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 16.65 per 100,000 residents, which is about 17 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 49,766 people with the surname Foley. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (57,068), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 16.65 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 16.65 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 17 of them to have the surname Foley.
Has Foley become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Foley went from 51,865 recorded bearers to 49,766. That is a decrease of 2,099 (-4.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #661 to #667.
What does the Census say about the background of Foley?
Among Census respondents with the surname Foley, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.5%. The next largest groups are Black (3.3%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Foley in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.5% (44,536 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Foley appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (89.5%), Black (3.3%), Two or More Races (3.2%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Foley (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Foley mean?
An Irish occupational surname referring to a descendant of a plunderer or marauder. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Foley (16.65 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the last name Foley?
Want to know how many people are called Foley? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.