Foley is used as a family name or surname in Ireland. It is 5 characters long in length.

Family Name / Last Name: Foley
No. of characters: 5
Origin: Ireland
Meaning:

Family name is the form of Sherry. Perhaps a corruption of Sheriff, or of Sherwin.

Lastname Foley is a variant of Sherry. The son of Searrach meaning "colt, flighty".

Grandson of Foghlaidh meaning "plunderer".

Collins says that the family have been of ancient standing in county of Worcester and some adjoining counties.

Foley is form of Foulis. The ancestor of the baronet was in great favour with king James VI. of Scotland, whom he accompanied into England. The name is probably derived from one of the two parishes of Perthshire now called Fowlis-Easter and Fowlis-Wester, In charters it is latinized De Foliis.

The surname is the variant form of Fowles. See Foulis - The ancestor of the baronet was in great favour with king James VI. of Scotland, whom he accompanied into England. The name is probably derived from one of the two parishes of Perthshire now called Fowlis-Easter and Fowlis-Wester, In charters it is latinized De Foliis.

Foley is a variant form of the Vowles. Antiqauarian Ferguson thinks that this name corresponds with the German and Dutch vogel, a fowl.

Family name is the variant of Foulis. Nisbet says that, "the name is from the French word feueles, which signifies leaves; whence these of the name are said to be of a French extract !" In the next breath he tells us that "the lands of Foulis in Angus on the borders of Perth shire belonged of old to those of this name."

How popular is Foley?

Foley is common in United States, Ireland, England, Australia, Canada, Egypt, New Zealand, Scotland, Wales, South Africa, Ghana, Togo, Northern Ireland, Liberia, France, Thailand, Malawi, Spain.

Foley is ranked 4741 on our list.

Despite the fact that the number of Foley bearers increased by 1.99 per cent in 2010 US census to 51865 since 2000, the surname slipped by 56 spots and ranked at 661. The last name was found in around 2 per ten thousand population. Please refer to following table for race and ethnicity.

Race 2010 2000
White 92.05 93.6
Black 3.31 3.27
Hispanic or Latino 2.1 1.32
Others 1.51 1.02
Asian and Native Hawaiian
& Other Pacific Islander		 0.73 0.54
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.3 0.26
Foley is quite popular family name mostly used in United States while Ireland is ahead in terms of density. Around 119003 people have been found who wears Foley as their family name. Foley is used widely across the globe. More detailed information can be found below:
RankCountryCount
Countries with ten thousands of Foley:
568 United States71,462
50 Ireland12,492
709 England10,928
Countries with thousands of Foley:
480 Australia7,871
818 Canada6,548
4,344 Egypt2,136
556 New Zealand1,268
825 Scotland1,102
Countries with hundreds of Foley:
424 Wales789
9,038 South Africa747
4,481 Ghana693
3,854 Togo525
921 Northern Ireland382
1,566 Liberia294
39,305 France261
52,285 Thailand233
16,499 Malawi105
23,393 Spain105
Countries with low frequency i.e., 50 - 100:
61,310 Germany95
34,406 Argentina93
14,788 Israel62
3,674 Singapore60
13,875 Switzerland57
Countries with very low frequency i.e., 10 - 50:
11,225 Denmark46
8,136 Dominican Republic46
41,894 Netherlands43
155,170 Brazil33
7,685 Qatar31
365 Bermuda29
664 Jersey29
148,179 Nigeria29
20,057 Peru28
24,678 Sweden28
53,021 Malaysia24
20,544 Niger21
268,198 Russia21
63,354 Belgium15
44,380 Japan15
188,373 Philippines15
5,142 China14
15,474 Ecuador14
552,550 India13
Countries with very very low frequency i.e., 6 - 10:
32,186 Finland10
1,778 Isle of Man10
820 Cayman Islands9
85,740 Czechia9
8,246 Tunisia9
1,665 United States Virgin Islands9
3,029 Guam8
53,030 Hungary8
115,463 Italy8
50,907 Norway7
1,433 South Korea6
Show Full Last Name Distribution

Immigrants to US

From Ireland

Timothy Foley was 25 years old when he migrated to USA during Irish famine on May 14, 1846. He lived in Great Britain where he worked as workman and took John Clark from Liverpool. Thomas Foley (40) Workman, 20 years old William Foley, 18 years old Catherin Foley, Cornelius Foley, aged 13, James Foley (24) Immigrant, Bridget Foley (24) Dressmaker, 30 years old Martin Foley, 20 years old U Foley, and 1067 other Foley around 55.14% of whom were workman while others worked as dressmaker and cook, servant, mason, spinster, tailoress, carpenter, farmer, clerk, blacksmith, shoemaker, bricklayer, baker, seamstress, mechanic, farmers &, mechanics migrated to US.

From Germany

Bonny Foley worked as farmer and hailed from Germany. 22 years old embarked for USA from Cork & Liverpool on Charles Crocker and arrived on December 16, 1853. Farmer Francois Foley, Laborer Thomas Foley, Johan Foley (26) Laborer, Thomas-W.Mr Foley (49) Tailor, 24 years old Ellen Foley, Lizzie Foley (34) Farmer, 25 years old Hubert Foley, U Foley (28) Priest, are other Foley that migrated to US from Havre, London, Liverpool & Queenstown and Bremen & Southampton.

Foley Namesakes

  • Richie Foley, Irish sportsperson
  • Fiona Foley, contemporary Indigenous Australian artist
  • Charles F. Foley, American lawyer and politician
  • Gary Foley, Australian Aboriginal Gumbainggir activist
  • John Henry Foley, Irish sculptor, working in London
  • Allan James Foley,
  • Martin Foley, well-known Irish criminal
  • Joseph P. Foley, politician in Manitoba, Canada
  • John R. Foley, represented the sixth district of Maryland
  • Louise Munro Foley, Canadian writer
  • Thos Foley, men's slalom skier
  • Adrian Foley, 8th Baron Foley, British peer, composer and pianist
  • William A. Foley, American linguist and professor at the University of Sydney
  • Theo Foley, Irish former footballer and football manager/coach
  • Philip Foley, youngest of the three surviving sons of the British ironmaster Thomas Foley
  • Francis B. Foley, American ferrous metallurgist
  • Henry Foley, English Jesuit Roman Catholic church historian
  • Sharon Foley, Irish former track and field athlete
  • Brendan Foley, Northern Irish writer, film producer and director
  • Thomas Foley, 4th Baron Foley, British peer and Liberal politician
  • James Bradford Foley, U.S. Representative from Indiana
  • Patrick James Foley, successful financial entrepreneur and an Irish politician and Member of Parliament for Galway Connemara
  • Thomas Patrick Roger Foley, bishop of the Roman Catholic Church
  • John Patrick Foley, American cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church
  • James D. Foley, American computer scientist and computer graphics researcher
  • David Edward Foley, American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church
  • Mick Foley, St
  • Mark Foley, former member of the United States House of Representatives
  • Dave Foley, Canadian actor, stand-up comedian, director
  • Tom Foley, American lawyer and politician
  • Curry Foley, Irish American professional baseball player
  • Frank Foley, British Secret Intelligence Service officer
  • Ellen Foley, American singer and actress
  • Scott Foley, American actor, director, and screenwriter
  • Red Foley, American singer, musician
  • Des Foley, Irish Gaelic footballer and hurler of the 1950s and 1960s
  • Laurence Foley, Laurence Michael Foley, Sr
  • Sue Foley, Canadian blues singer and guitarist
  • Anthony Foley, Irish rugby union player and head coach of Munster
  • Denis Foley, Irish Fianna Fáil politician
  • Maurice B. Foley, Chief Judge of the United States Tax Court
  • David Foley, English footballer who plays for South Shields F.C
  • Blaze Foley, American country music singer-songwriter active
  • Glenn Foley, former American football quarterback
  • Pat Foley, Hockey Hall of Fame television play-by-play announcer for the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League
  • Art Foley, Irish retired hurler
  • Justin Foley, American musician
  • Alexander J. Foley, member of the United States Marine Corps
  • Thomas C. Foley, American politician and businessman
  • Colm Foley, Irish football player
  • Hugh Foley, retired American rower
  • Shaun Foley, Australian rugby union player and a former member of the National Rugby League's Sydney Roosters squad
  • Lar Foley, hurling and Gaelic football player
  • Tim Foley, former American football player

Foley Namesakes

  • Richie Foley, Irish sportsperson
  • Fiona Foley, contemporary Indigenous Australian artist
  • Charles F. Foley, American lawyer and politician
  • Gary Foley, Australian Aboriginal Gumbainggir activist
  • John Henry Foley, Irish sculptor, working in London
  • Allan James Foley,
  • Martin Foley, well-known Irish criminal
  • Joseph P. Foley, politician in Manitoba, Canada
  • John R. Foley, represented the sixth district of Maryland
  • Louise Munro Foley, Canadian writer
  • Thos Foley, men's slalom skier
  • Adrian Foley, 8th Baron Foley, British peer, composer and pianist
  • William A. Foley, American linguist and professor at the University of Sydney
  • Theo Foley, Irish former footballer and football manager/coach
  • Philip Foley, youngest of the three surviving sons of the British ironmaster Thomas Foley
  • Francis B. Foley, American ferrous metallurgist
  • Henry Foley, English Jesuit Roman Catholic church historian
  • Sharon Foley, Irish former track and field athlete
  • Brendan Foley, Northern Irish writer, film producer and director
  • Thomas Foley, 4th Baron Foley, British peer and Liberal politician
  • James Bradford Foley, U.S. Representative from Indiana
  • Patrick James Foley, successful financial entrepreneur and an Irish politician and Member of Parliament for Galway Connemara
  • Thomas Patrick Roger Foley, bishop of the Roman Catholic Church
  • John Patrick Foley, American cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church
  • James D. Foley, American computer scientist and computer graphics researcher
  • David Edward Foley, American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church
  • Mick Foley, St
  • Mark Foley, former member of the United States House of Representatives
  • Dave Foley, Canadian actor, stand-up comedian, director
  • Tom Foley, American lawyer and politician
  • Curry Foley, Irish American professional baseball player
  • Frank Foley, British Secret Intelligence Service officer
  • Ellen Foley, American singer and actress
  • Scott Foley, American actor, director, and screenwriter
  • Red Foley, American singer, musician
  • Des Foley, Irish Gaelic footballer and hurler of the 1950s and 1960s
  • Laurence Foley, Laurence Michael Foley, Sr
  • Sue Foley, Canadian blues singer and guitarist
  • Anthony Foley, Irish rugby union player and head coach of Munster
  • Denis Foley, Irish Fianna Fáil politician
  • Maurice B. Foley, Chief Judge of the United States Tax Court
  • David Foley, English footballer who plays for South Shields F.C
  • Blaze Foley, American country music singer-songwriter active
  • Glenn Foley, former American football quarterback
  • Pat Foley, Hockey Hall of Fame television play-by-play announcer for the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League
  • Art Foley, Irish retired hurler
  • Justin Foley, American musician
  • Alexander J. Foley, member of the United States Marine Corps
  • Thomas C. Foley, American politician and businessman
  • Colm Foley, Irish football player
  • Hugh Foley, retired American rower
  • Shaun Foley, Australian rugby union player and a former member of the National Rugby League's Sydney Roosters squad
  • Lar Foley, hurling and Gaelic football player
  • Tim Foley, former American football player

Related Family Names: