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

Addams, 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 Addams surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Addams in America

Addams is the 45495th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Addams surname appeared 470 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 Addams.

We can also compare 2010 data for Addams 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.

The history of the last name Addams

The surname Addams originates from England and can be traced back to the 13th century. It is derived from the Old English personal name Adam, which means "man" or "earth". The name was originally spelled as "Adames" or "Adammes".

In the Domesday Book of 1086, a record of landowners in England after the Norman Conquest, there are several entries for individuals with the name Adames or similar spellings. This indicates that the name was already in use by the late 11th century.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Addams is found in the Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire in 1191, where a Richard Adames is mentioned. The Pipe Rolls were financial records kept by the English Exchequer.

During the Middle Ages, the name Addams was often associated with place names or toponyms. For example, in the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire in 1327, there is a reference to a Robert de Adames, suggesting a connection to a place called Adames or a similar name.

In the 16th century, the spelling of the name began to standardize as Addams. One notable individual with this surname was John Addams, a wealthy merchant and Member of Parliament for Lyme Regis in Dorset, who lived from around 1550 to 1610.

Another prominent figure was Sir Thomas Addams (1604-1667), an English politician and lawyer who served as Lord Mayor of London in 1651. He was born in Stratton, Cornwall, and played a significant role during the English Civil War.

In the 18th century, John Addams (1717-1783) was a notable English physician and author who wrote several medical treatises. He was born in Oxfordshire and practiced medicine in London.

John Addams (1768-1840), a British naval officer, served in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars and participated in several notable battles, including the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.

In the United States, one of the earliest recorded individuals with the surname Addams was John Addams (1577-1659), who was born in England and immigrated to Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1630s. He was one of the founders of the town of Ipswich, Massachusetts.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Addams

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

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 Addams was:

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

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

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

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