Proudfoot Last Name Popularity, Meaning and Origin

In this article we'll look at the origin and meaning of the surname Proudfoot and how popular it is in the United States. We'll also look at the race and ethnic origin of people in the United States who are named Proudfoot.

Proudfoot, like all of the 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 Proudfoot surname is from the 2010 census data.

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What is the Origin and Meaning of the Last Name Proudfoot?

Originating from Scotland and England the playful surname Proudfoot likely derives from the Middle English (8^th – 15^th centuries) words Prod “proud” and fote “foot.” It is a nickname term that was often given to someone who walked with a swagger or who tended to strut. The popularity of the name within Scotland seems to indicate it may have originated there.

Nicknames could become family names over time and this appears to be the case with Proudfoot. The original bearer of the name was likely a man who walked with a swaggering gait. People may have referred to him as (given name) prudfote. This name could then have been passed down to his offspring and in time to the subsequent generations of his family.

David Proudfoot (8 December 1892 – 16 January 1958) was born in Fife, Scotland and was a trade unionist. At the age of fourteen, David started an engineering apprenticeship. This would only last three years before Proudfoot decided to leave and start working as a coal miner. At the outbreak of World War I he joined the army eventually becoming a non-commissioned officer. His experiences radicalized his ideals and when he left the army he joined the British Socialist Party.

William Proudfoot, KC (February 21, 1859 – December 3, 1922) was a barrister and politician in the Canadian senate. Born in Ontario, Canada or Canada West as it was known at the time, William was the son of a Scottish immigrant, Robert Proudfoot. A liberal by affiliation, in 1908 Proudfoot was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. After several reelections, William eventually became the Party leader.

Where Does Proudfoot Rank in the Most Common U.S. Names?

According to the data, Proudfoot is ranked #21,119 in terms of the most common surnames in America.

The Proudfoot surname appeared 1,243 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0.42 would have the surname Proudfoot.

We can also compare 2010 data for Proudfoot 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.

Race and Ethnic Origin of People with the Last Name Proudfoot

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

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: "White only", "Black only", "American Indian and Alaskan Native only", "Asian and Pacific Islander only", "Two or More Races", and "Hispanic".

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

• 90.99%, or 1,131 total occurrences, were "Non-Hispanic White Only".
• 1.37%, or 17 total occurrences, were "Non-Hispanic Black Only".
• 0.48%, or 6 total occurrences, were "Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only".
• 1.53%, or 19 total occurrences, were "Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native".
• 3.62%, or 45 total occurrences, were "Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races".
• 2.01%, or 25 total occurrences, were "Hispanic Origin".

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 Proudfoot has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data Source(s)

All of the data on this page is sourced from the Decennial Census survey, from the United States Census Bureau.

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