Acres last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Acres

An English toponymic surname derived from a place name, indicating someone who lived near or on an acre of land.

Acres, 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 Acres surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Acres in America

Acres is the 23251st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Acres surname appeared 1,096 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Acres.

We can also compare 2010 data for Acres 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 23251 24368 -4.69%
Count 1,096 963 12.92%
Proportion per 100k 0.37 0.36 2.74%

The history of the last name Acres

The surname ACRES originated in England during the late medieval period, likely between the 12th and 14th centuries. It was derived from the Old English word "æcer," meaning "field" or "cultivated land." This suggests that the name was initially given as a descriptive surname to someone who lived or worked on a field or farmland.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname ACRES can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire, a series of financial records dating back to 1176. The name appears as "de Acres," indicating a connection to a specific place or location.

The Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landholdings and tax assessments conducted in 1086 under the order of William the Conqueror, does not include the surname ACRES. However, it does mention several place names containing the word "acre," such as Acresfield in Cheshire and Acresbrook in Staffordshire, which may have given rise to the surname in later years.

In the 13th century, the surname ACRES appeared in various documents and records across England. Notably, a Thomas de Acres was mentioned in the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire in 1275, while a Richard de Acres was recorded in the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire in 1279.

Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the surname ACRES. One of the earliest was Sir Robert Acres (c. 1330-1399), a member of the English gentry and landowner in Norfolk. Another prominent figure was John Acres (1542-1618), an English clergyman and academic who served as the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge from 1609 to 1610.

In the 17th century, Samuel Acres (1635-1719) was a renowned English mathematician and astronomer. He made significant contributions to the development of logarithms and the study of celestial mechanics.

During the 18th century, Thomas Acres (1695-1770) was a prominent English architect who designed several notable buildings, including Wanstead House in Essex and the Radcliffe Observatory in Oxford.

In more recent times, Sir Jonathan Acres (1949-present) has been a distinguished English judge and barrister, serving as a Lord Justice of Appeal from 2007 to 2017.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Acres

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

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 Acres was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 74.73% 819
Non-Hispanic Black Only 17.06% 187
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 2.28% 25
Hispanic Origin 5.11% 56

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

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 74.73% 77.05% -3.06%
Black 17.06% 17.76% -4.02%
Asian and Pacific Islander (S)% (S)% (S)%
American Indian and Alaskan Native (S)% (S)% (S)%
Two or More Races 2.28% 1.45% 44.50%
Hispanic 5.11% 3.32% 42.47%

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 Acres was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

Reference this page

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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!

"Acres last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on December 4, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/acres-surname-popularity/.

"Acres last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/acres-surname-popularity/. Accessed 4 December, 2024

Acres last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/acres-surname-popularity/.

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