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

Addison, 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 Addison surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Addison in America

Addison is the 1986th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Addison surname appeared 18,169 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 6 people would have the surname Addison.

We can also compare 2010 data for Addison 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 Addison

The surname Addison originated in England, with roots dating back to the 13th century. It is derived from the Old English words "adic" and "sunu," meaning "son of Ade" or "son of Adam." This patronymic name was initially spelled as "Adekyn" or "Adekynsone."

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Addison can be found in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273, where it appears as "Adekyn." The name also appears in the Subsidy Rolls of Sussex in 1296 as "Adekynsone."

In the 14th century, the name evolved to its modern spelling, "Addison." It is believed that the name originated in Yorkshire and Lancashire, where many early bearers of the surname were recorded.

The Domesday Book of 1086 does not contain the surname Addison, as it predates the widespread use of hereditary surnames in England. However, it does mention several individuals with the first name "Ade" or "Adam," which may have been the progenitors of later Addison families.

One notable bearer of the surname was Joseph Addison (1672-1719), an English essayist, poet, and playwright. He co-founded the influential periodical "The Spectator" and is considered one of the foremost prose stylists of the 18th century.

Another famous Addison was Thomas Addison (1793-1860), an English physician who first described the medical condition known as "Addison's disease," a disorder of the adrenal glands.

In the 16th century, the name Addison appears in several records, including the Wills and Administrations of Chester, where a John Addison is mentioned in 1554. The same century also saw the emergence of place names containing the surname, such as Addison's Close in Bedfordshire, recorded in 1576.

Christopher Addison (1869-1951) was a British politician and social reformer who served as Minister of Health and later as Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries in the 1920s and 1930s.

Another notable bearer of the name was Joseph Addison (1766-1844), an English engraver and author who published "The Elements of the Art of Assaying Metals" in 1801, a seminal work in the field of metallurgy.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Addison

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

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

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

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