Surname frequency

[Barbara Adair Bauer]

Today's New York Times reports the U. S. Census has released a study of surname frequency:

In U.S. Name Count, Garcias Are Catching Up With Joneses (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/17/us/17surnames.html)

The census link is here:

Frequently Occurring Surnames From Census 2000 (http://www.census.gov/genealogy/www/freqnames2k.html)


NOTE: This presentation of data focuses on summarized aggregates of counts of surnames, and does not in any way identify specific individuals.

Tabulations of all surnames occurring 100 or more times in the census 2000 returns are provided in the files listed below. The first link explains the methodology used for identifying and editing names data. The second link provides an Excel file of the top 1000 surnames. The third link provides zipped Excel and CSV (comma separated) files of the complete list of 151,671 names.

The top ten surnames are:

NAME Number of occurrences

Smith 2,376,206
Johnson 1,857,160
Williams 1,534,042
Brown 1,380,145
Jones 1,362,755
Miller 1,127,803
Davis 1,072,335
Garcia 858,289
Rodriguez 804,240
Wilson 783,051

* Technical Documentation: Demographic Aspects of Surnames from Census 2000 (122k)

* File A: Top 1000 Names (132k) - [Excel]

* File B: Surnames occurring 100 or more times (151,671 records) [Excel] and [CSV]

Linda had an idea about studying surname frequency to figure out migration patterns, I think, but I haven't been able to find that thread.

I only looked at the top 1000 name file. In addition to frequency the file lists what percent of people with each surname report being of various races.

Here are some hits:

Collins - ranked 52 - .75% NaAn
Gibson - ranked 119 - .85% NaAn
Bass - ranked 561 - .63% NaAn
Lowery - ranked 752 - 4.39% NaAn
Hart - ranked 196 .72% NaAn

Don't know if this is useful, but I thought it was interesting. The files also list the number of people with each surname - there were 317,848 Collinses in the 2000 Census. Unfortunately there doesn't appear to be any geographic information linked.

[sammarroq]

Thanks for the links, very interesting:) It would have been nice if they would have listed locations.

Geographic location has been a key identifier for my family as well as other surnames associated with the group and how they were enumerated.

[yellow woman]

I know its not much but the 2000 census does break down the racial groups into precentage by state, county and city. One of my sons did a presentation for a business on diversity and he told me that it was broken down that way. If you new an area that had your interest it might put you near the ballpark?..... Maybe not ....?

[Greydove]

Hi Barbara, Thanks for the info & links, you always post very interesting info. Hi Shirley, how are you? Fine I hope. After reading this post and alot of the posts made by Ga~Nc Collins (thanks for all your hard work, time, & very good info) I started thinking abt more of my surnames and locations they were derived from~ locations~Virginia~Faquier, Rockingham, Highland, Shenandoah, Clay, Enon, Calhoun, Bath, Greenbrier, Alleghany, Washington/ PA~ Douglas, Lancaster/ Maryland~Kent/ Mass~Barnstable/ Vermont//WVA~Nicolas, Grant/Tenn~Knoxville/Ky/ Ohio/Indiana~~~~Surnames~(most of these are GreatGrandmothers m into my main lines) Paternal~~Hull, Temple, Hughes, Conway, Grigsby, Payne, Redmond, Garnett, Bennett, Elkins, Rosser, Leslie, Huntsman, Buchanon, Gallop, Campbell, Bryant, Phillips, Bland, Maxon, Noble, Alford, Keith, & Quhen~~~Maternal~(I don't have much on my Mothers side as Dads~her Father came from Knoxville, Tenn, and was Irish~Indian~~his name was Brady~~Swank, Zumwalt, Wilhite, Wainscott, Stringfellow, Evans, & Jennings. You know it took alot of people joining together to get to where we are now~it kinda blows my mind. Take care All~~Many Blessings~~Greydove~^~:)

[Greydove]

I know its not much but the 2000 census does break down the racial groups into precentage by state, county and city. One of my sons did a presentation for a business on diversity and he told me that it was broken down that way. If you new an area that had your interest it might put you near the ballpark?..... Maybe not ....? Hi cousin Yellow Woman, Or maybe yes? How are you and yours? Fine I hope. Take care~Greydove~^~;)

[yellow woman]

Hey cousin Greydove. I'm fine and the family is doing well. How are things with you? Staying busy with the research I'll bet. Thinking of taking a trip over into the Flinthills this weekend? Need to blow the stink off. :)] You have a great weekend yourself. Later,Lady.....

[Greydove]

Hi Barbara, Thanks for the info & links, you always post very interesting info. Hi Shirley, how are you? Fine I hope. After reading this post and alot of the posts made by Ga~Nc Collins (thanks for all your hard work, time, & very good info) I started thinking abt more of my surnames and locations they were derived from~ locations~Virginia~Faquier, Rockingham, Highland, Shenandoah, Clay, Enon, Calhoun, Bath, Greenbrier, Alleghany, Washington/ PA~ Douglas, Lancaster/ Maryland~Kent/ Mass~Barnstable/ Vermont//WVA~Nicolas, Grant/Tenn~Knoxville/Ky/ Ohio/Indiana~~~~Surnames~(most of these are GreatGrandmothers m into my main lines) Paternal~~Hull, Temple, Hughes, Conway, Grigsby, Payne, Redmond, Garnett, Bennett, Elkins, Rosser, Leslie, Huntsman, Buchanon, Gallop, Campbell, Bryant, Phillips, Bland, Maxon, Noble, Alford, Keith, & Quhen~~~Maternal~(I don't have much on my Mothers side as Dads~her Father came from Knoxville, Tenn, and was Irish~Indian~~his name was Brady~~Swank, Zumwalt, Wilhite, Wainscott, Stringfellow, Evans, & Jennings. You know it took alot of people joining together to get to where we are now~it kinda blows my mind. Take care All~~Many Blessings~~Greydove~^~:) Anyone here researching any of these surnames? Oh, in locations, I left out Rockbridge VA, but I guess that would fall into Shenandoah? Hey Sandra are ya still around?( my Hart~sister?) Take care all and have a great wkend:) Greydove~^~

[Barbara Adair Bauer]

Hi, Greydove, who's the Payne in your family? My gggrandmother was Elizabeth Payne (1831-1908) born in (then) Tazewell Co. Va. Her parents were John Payne ( born around 1800 in Va.) and Susannah Lester (born around 1810 in Ky). John had two brothers, Simeon and George Washington Payne, sons of David Payne (born about 1765 in Va.) and either his first wife Anne Garrison or his second wife Elizabeth Cassiday. Elizabeth Payne said her family was English. She said the ndn came from her husband's side - John Addair (1814-1890). Somewhere I have notes from my mother that said they (the Paynes) came from Chilhowie, Va., but I can't find them. (This is not unusual) ;-)

Barbara

[Greydove]

Hi Barbara, My Payne line~~Hannah E. Payne b 1686 Westmoreland, VA d 1790 Prince William, VA dau of Hannah Wise b 1647 Accomac, VA d 1720 Somerset, Maryland & Mathew Scarborough b 1650 London, Eng d 1724 Somerset, Maryland~(I never noticed before that in my tree her father wasn't listed as Payne for surname~could be adopted or step~dau?, I don't know?) Anyway Hannah Payne m William Foster b 1686 Northumberland, VA d 1767 Prince William, VA~~their son~~Isaac Foster b 1719 Northumberland, VA d 1814 Prince William, VA~he m Sarah Hughes b 1738 Prince William, VA d 1822 Nicolas, VA~(she's from the Grigsby, Bennett, Redmond lines) their son~ George Foster b 1767 Greenbrier, VA d 1860 Monroe, VA m Sarah Conway b 1769 Fauquier, VA d (?)~their dau~Mary Polly Foster b 1790 Prince Wm, VA d 1860 Mckees Creek, Nicolas WVA m John Bailes b 1785 Monroe, VA d 1826 Nicolas, VA~~their son Solomon Bailes b 1815 Kanawha, VA d1893 Whitewater, Nicolas, WVA~~m Mary Martin b 1820 Nicolas, VA d 1868 Nicolas, WVA~(she's the Greatgrandmother I can't find any recds on)~their son~Robert Bailes b 1839 Grant, Nicolas, WVA d (?) m Margaret Jane Hart b 1838 Allegania, VA d 1897 Mckees Creek, Nicolas Co, WVA~(she's the dau of Samuel Hart & Margaret Peggy Temple)~their dau~Mary Margaret Bailes b 1866 Mckees Creek, Nicolas Co, WVA d 1947 Indiana~m Newton Tyler Fitzwater b 1860 Nicolas Co, WVA d 1949 Indiana~their son William H. Fitzwater b 1889 Nicolas Co,WVA d 1964 Indiana~(he's my Dad, Arlie L Fitzwater's Dad)~~So, I guess that makes Hannah Payne my 6th Greatgrandmother, if I've counted right. More than you wanted to know probably, but once I flesh out a line, I kinda like to trace it or bring it back to me. Blessings~Greydove~^~;)

[Barbara Adair Bauer]

Could it be Payne was Hannah's married name and William Foster was her second husband? Isaac would have been born when she was 33...

I was wrong about Chilhowie - that was the Trents.... which explains why I couldn't find the note!!!

[Greydove]

Ya know, I never thought of that, but it could be Hannah was md to a Payne before, cause otherwise you would think she would be listed as Scarborough or Wise at least. Hmmmm~I'll ck into that. Also, the Mary Margaret Bailes to her mother Margaret Jane Hart is where at least one of my ndn blood~lines is. All I know is my paternal Grandfather told me his Grandmother was ndn and my Dad's sister told me their Grandmother (Mary M. Bailes) looked ndn and was. Sure would've been nice to have some kind of info to know what tribe. I hope to find out one day. Thanks for the reply Barbara~~Greydove~^~:)

[sammarroq]

Hi Barbara, Thanks for the info & links, you always post very interesting info. Hi Shirley, how are you? Fine I hope. After reading this post and alot of the posts made by Ga~Nc Collins (thanks for all your hard work, time, & very good info) I started thinking abt more of my surnames and locations they were derived from~ locations~Virginia~Faquier, Rockingham, Highland, Shenandoah, Clay, Enon, Calhoun, Bath, Greenbrier, Alleghany, Washington/ PA~ Douglas, Lancaster/ Maryland~Kent/ Mass~Barnstable/ Vermont//WVA~Nicolas, Grant/Tenn~Knoxville/Ky/ Ohio/Indiana~~~~Surnames~(most of these are GreatGrandmothers m into my main lines) Paternal~~Hull, Temple, Hughes, Conway, Grigsby, Payne, Redmond, Garnett, Bennett, Elkins, Rosser, Leslie, Huntsman, Buchanon, Gallop, Campbell, Bryant, Phillips, Bland, Maxon, Noble, Alford, Keith, & Quhen~~~Maternal~(I don't have much on my Mothers side as Dads~her Father came from Knoxville, Tenn, and was Irish~Indian~~his name was Brady~~Swank, Zumwalt, Wilhite, Wainscott, Stringfellow, Evans, & Jennings. You know it took alot of people joining together to get to where we are now~it kinda blows my mind. Take care All~~Many Blessings~~Greydove~^~:)


Hello Greydove,

All is well here...just finishing Spring semester classes, so have been really busy. Blessings,

Shirley

[Greydove]

Could it be Payne was Hannah's married name and William Foster was her second husband? Isaac would have been born when she was 33...

I was wrong about Chilhowie - that was the Trents.... which explains why I couldn't find the note!!! Well, Barbara, I believe you're right. I went back into my tree on ancestry.com and did some digging(btw they have a new search engine & its alot more informative) anyway, Hannah Elizabeth Scarborough m Daniel Payne in 1700 he was b 1660 Accomack, VA d 1709 Northhampton, VA~children~John Payne 1704, Daniel Payne b 1706, Esther Payne b 1708~all born North Hampton VA. So, Hannah was widowed in 1709 and m William Foster in 1710 Northumberland, VA. It shows she m again after William died to James Maynard (no dates?) hmmm, well, you learn something new every day, eh? Thanks, Greydove:) Also, Hey Shirley, thanks for reply~Later~;)

[Barbara Adair Bauer]

Neat. On to Bailes and Hart. Clever of your relatives to name their children something other than John!

[Greydove]

Neat. On to Bailes and Hart. Clever of your relatives to name their children something other than John! Hiya Barbara, How you doing? Fine, I hope. Since this last post, I have done just that~on to Bailes and Hart. Hart I know is Indian, just not what tribe, this is based on family tradition according to my Grandfather. Bailes and Hart marry, but Bailes goes back to Martin. My GGG~Grandmother Mary Martin b 1820 d 1868 VA (Nicolas Co) but, I can't find a birth recd for her there nor can I find a marriage recd for her and Solomon Bailes. Supposedly they were m abt 1835~she was 15. I have looked for a yr for her parentage and extensively the last few mos. I stumbled accross some interesting info on Nancy Ward and didn't realize she was Cherokee and m Bryant Ward after she was widowed by KingFisher~ and they supposedly had a dau~Elizabeth Ward that m Joseph Martin an Indian Agent from VA. I would love to be able to connect Mary to that Martin line as it would really fit since my Greatgrandmother Mary Margaret Bailes (Fitzwater) is her Granddaughter and I remember a pic of her that she looked so Indian (even tho it was in black & white) Also, I'm probably grasping at straws, but Mary Martin named one of her daus~Elizabeth Nancy~coincidence?~probably~but I am still searching~Good Luck to everyone in their ancestor searches and Barbara ck out this link~there is another link within this one abt Nancy Ward that mentions Catherine Adair~Blessings to All and have a great weekend~:) ~Greydove~^~ http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~tnpolk2/martin.htm

[Barbara Adair Bauer]

Hi Greydove!

Thanks for the link. There are a slew of Cherokee Adairs, including Will Rogers and many others, but I have never found a connection. My James Addair was born around 1748, which makes him too old to be a son of the known Cherokee Adairs. I can find him all over Fincastle and Montgomery County, Va. records - militia, tax records, census, land records, ferry petitions, road orders, marriage bonds, etc., etc., but no clue as to where he came from, or his second wife's name, although they had six children. His first wife was Annis Harbison (even that is only known by tradition among her descendants - no documents to prove it). Only the third wife - Letitia or Martitia Page - turns up in records.

I think I'm working up to a road trip to Virginia to poke through some courthouses. Or Tennessee, to locate my Collins kin. How hard could it be to find a John Collins there? ;-)

Hope you have a good weekend too.

Barbara

[Greydove]

Hi Barbara and All, Barbara, you are welcome. I have been thinking the same thing abt taking a trip to Virginia~was going to do it last summer, but didn't get around to it before I knew it summer was gone?? We always go up to Minnisota the wkend after Labor Day wkend to meet up with my husbands son and his family. Now with gas prices getting so high, I don't know when I'll get to go~ I don't imagine they'll get any cheaper, he? I live in Indiana~where do you hail from? Take care and good luck in your ancestry searches~ Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers here~~Blessings~Greydove~^~ :) http://www.alighthouse.com/mday18.htm

[beeleaf]

Hannah Elizabeth Scarborough m Daniel Payne in 1700 he was b 1660 Accomack, VA d 1709 Northhampton, VA

Got Gingaskin?

[beeleaf]

Interesting site, here. SOme of the links no longer work, but the maps and index of where people lived way back when in Accomack & Northampton do:
http://www.esva.net/ghotes/

Maybe it will be useful.

There is also something there on early naming conventions.

[beeleaf]

Seem to be stuck in frames. Give credit to Bill Leatherbury for this info:

Early Naming Conventions
Child: - - Named for:

1st son: - - father's father

2nd son: - - mother's father

3rd son: - - father

4th son: - - father's oldest brother

5th son: - - father's 2nd oldest brother or mother's oldest brother

1st daughter: - - mother's mother

2nd daughter: - - father's mother

3rd daughter: - - mother

4th daughter: - - mother's oldest sister

5th daughter; - - mother's 2nd oldest sister or father's oldest sister

[Greydove]

Hiya Bee, Thanks for the link to Accomack & Northhampton~very informative. Also, the naming conventions sheds light on how some of our ancestors ended up named what they were named. I don't believe I have Gingaskin~but doesn't mean I don't~every time I do research I find something or someone new to explore~the "proverbial brick~walls" are the ones that drive ya nuts, though!!!Take care and once again~Thank You~:) ~Greydove~^~

[Kira_Leigh]

What Bee listed is exactly why it's so hard to figure out family trees. When my son was born I looked for a name that no one else in the family had. I did use his grandfather's middle name as his middle name, but I threatened any one that tried to call him by his middle name. His father's family had a habit of using middle names even for the girls. Enough said. I'm glad they don't do that as much now a days. Cindi :)

[Barbara Adair Bauer]

Hi Barbara and All, Barbara, you are welcome. I have been thinking the same thing abt taking a trip to Virginia~was going to do it last summer, but didn't get around to it before I knew it summer was gone?? We always go up to Minnisota the wkend after Labor Day wkend to meet up with my husbands son and his family. Now with gas prices getting so high, I don't know when I'll get to go~ I don't imagine they'll get any cheaper, he? I live in Indiana~where do you hail from? Take care and good luck in your ancestry searches~ Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers here~~Blessings~Greydove~^~ :) http://www.alighthouse.com/mday18.htm

Hi, Greydove - Darn, we can't carpool - I'm in Upstate New York - Ithaca, in the Fingerlakes region. Born and grew up near you though - near Dayton, Ohio.

Feeling a bit nervous about the roadtrip what with remarks about unwelcome Yankees on the board... do I dare to show up in my Honda hybrid with NY plates? Do I need a "Got Grits?" bumpersticker? :o