Find out how popular the last name Paisley is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Paisley.

Paisley, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Paisley surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Paisley in America

Paisley is the 10721st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Paisley surname appeared 2,980 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Paisley.

We can also compare 2010 data for Paisley to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Paisley

The surname Paisley originated from the town of Paisley in Renfrewshire, Scotland. The name first appeared in records around the 12th century, derived from the Brittonic Celtic words "pasgyll" meaning a pasture or meadow and "ey" meaning island or ridge.

The earliest known spelling of the place name was "Passelet" in 1157, which evolved into "Passeleth" in 1182, and later "Passelay" in 1245. The town of Paisley grew in importance as a religious center with the establishment of Paisley Abbey in the 12th century.

One of the earliest recorded individuals with the surname Paisley was Walter de Passelay, who was a witness to a charter granted by Walter fitz Alan, the High Steward of Scotland, around 1230. Another early record is that of Radulphus de Passelay, who was a canon of Glasgow Cathedral in 1256.

In the 14th century, the name appears in the Ragman Rolls of 1296, which documented Scottish landowners who swore allegiance to King Edward I of England. Among those listed were Johannes de Passelay and William de Passelay.

Paisley Abbey played a significant role in the history of the town and the name. One notable figure was John de Lithgow, who served as Abbot of Paisley from 1389 to 1418. He was involved in the rebuilding of the abbey church and was a prominent figure in Scottish ecclesiastical affairs.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the surname Paisley became more widespread as families migrated from the town. Robert Paisley (1558-1619) was a Scottish minister and reformer who served as the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1616.

In the 19th century, William Paisley (1808-1881) was a Scottish politician and Lord Provost of Glasgow, while Walter Paisley (1858-1932) was a Scottish architect responsible for designing several notable buildings in Glasgow.

Other notable individuals with the surname Paisley include John Paisley (1919-2011), a Scottish politician and Member of Parliament, and Ian Paisley (1926-2014), a Northern Irish Protestant religious leader and politician who served as the First Minister of Northern Ireland.

The name Paisley has also been associated with the distinctive paisley pattern, which originated in the town and became popular in the West after being incorporated into Scottish and English textiles in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Paisley

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Paisley.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Paisley was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Paisley has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Paisley was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Paisley, please contact us.

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!