2000
#8,993
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,343
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.24
Rare Last name
Weakley
An English toponymic surname derived from a place name meaning "wet clearing" or "clearing in the willows."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,556 Americans carry the last name Weakley. That puts it at #9,939 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 96,388 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Weakley 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 Weakley with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
3.6K
1 in 96,388
Census rank
#9,939
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
3.1K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 3,101 bearers of the surname Weakley in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 9939th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Weakley, the largest self-reported group is White at 79.9%. The next largest groups are Black (11.7%) and Two or More Races (4.1%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Weakley
The surname Weakley originates from England, dating back to the 13th century. It is believed to be derived from the Old English words "weoc" meaning weak or feeble, and "leah" meaning a meadow or clearing in a forest. The name likely referred to someone who lived in or near a meadow that was considered small or sparse.
Early records of the name can be found in various historical documents, including the Hundred Rolls of Huntingdonshire from 1273, which mentions a John de Wekelye. The Weakley surname also appears in the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire in 1327, listing a Richard de Wekelay.
During the 14th century, the name was sometimes spelled as Wekeley, Wekley, or Weakley, reflecting the variations in pronunciation and spelling common in that era. Some early bearers of the name were likely associated with places like Weakley, a small hamlet in Shropshire, or Wekeley, a now-defunct settlement in Worcestershire.
One notable individual with the Weakley surname was Sir John Weakley, a 15th-century English knight who served as a member of Parliament for Northamptonshire in 1461. Another was Thomas Weakley, a 16th-century lawyer and Member of Parliament for Ludlow in 1559.
In the 17th century, the name appears in the records of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, with the arrival of William Weakley, a settler from England who was granted land in Ipswich in 1638. John Weakley, born in 1675 in Maryland, was an early colonial American with this surname.
Other historical figures with the Weakley surname include Robert Weakley (1725-1804), a Scottish-American soldier who fought in the American Revolutionary War, and David Weakley (1766-1829), an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative from Tennessee.
While the Weakley surname is not as common as some others, it has a rich history spanning several centuries and can be traced back to its English origins in the medieval period.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Weakley
Among Census respondents with the surname Weakley, the largest self-reported group is White at 79.9%. The next largest groups are Black (11.7%) and Two or More Races (4.1%).
The bar chart below shows how Weakley 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 Weakley surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White79.9% · 2,478
- Black or African American11.7% · 364
- Two or more races4.1% · 126
- Hispanic or Latino3.0% · 92
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 29
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 12
Timeline
Historical Census data for Weakley
Weakley 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
#9,403
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,458
+115 bearers (+3.4%)
Per 100,000 1.17
Rank movement Down 410 places
2020
#9,939
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,101
-357 bearers (-10.3%)
Per 100,000 1.04
Rank movement Down 536 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #8,993 | 3,343 | 1.24 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #9,403 | 3,458 | 1.17 | +115 bearers (+3.4%) | Down 410 places |
| 2020 | #9,939 | 3,101 | 1.04 | -357 bearers (-10.3%) | Down 536 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 Weakley 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 | #9,403 | #9,939 | -5.7% |
| Count | 3,458 | 3,101 | -10.3% |
| Per 100K | 1.17 | 1.04 | -11.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Weakley bearers went from 3,458 to 3,101 (-10.3% change). The surname moved down 536 positions in the national ranking, going from #9,403 to #9,939.
FAQ
Weakley surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Weakley?
Name Census estimates that about 3,556 living Americans carry the surname Weakley. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 96,388 residents.
How common is Weakley?
Weakley ranks #9,939 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.04 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 3,101 people with the surname Weakley. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,556), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.04 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Weakley.
Has Weakley become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Weakley went from 3,458 recorded bearers to 3,101. That is a decrease of 357 (-10.3%). In the national ranking it fell from #9,403 to #9,939.
What does the Census say about the background of Weakley?
Among Census respondents with the surname Weakley, the largest self-reported group is White at 79.9%. The next largest groups are Black (11.7%) and Two or More Races (4.1%). 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 Weakley in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.9% (2,478 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Weakley appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (79.9%), Black (11.7%), Two or More Races (4.1%). 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 Weakley (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 Weakley mean?
An English toponymic surname derived from a place name meaning "wet clearing" or "clearing in the willows." 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 Weakley (1.04 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 surname Weakley?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.