2000
#2,019
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 16,474
First available Census row
Per 100,000 6.11
Uncommon Last name
Addison
Son of Adam, or a patronymic surname derived from the given name Adam.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 20,028 Americans carry the last name Addison. That puts it at #2,023 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 5.84 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 17,114 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Addison surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Addison with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
20K
1 in 17,114
Census rank
#2,023
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
5.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
17K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 17,465 bearers of the surname Addison in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 5.84 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 2023rd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Addison, the largest self-reported group is White at 48.4%. The next largest groups are Black (42.3%) and Two or More Races (4.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of 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.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Addison
Among Census respondents with the surname Addison, the largest self-reported group is White at 48.4%. The next largest groups are Black (42.3%) and Two or More Races (4.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Addison bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Addison surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White48.4% · 8,446
- Black or African American42.3% · 7,394
- Two or more races4.6% · 812
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 539
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 182
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 92
Timeline
Historical Census data for Addison
Addison appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#1,986
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 18,169
+1,695 bearers (+10.3%)
Per 100,000 6.16
Rank movement Up 33 places
2020
#2,023
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 17,465
-704 bearers (-3.9%)
Per 100,000 5.84
Rank movement Down 37 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #2,019 | 16,474 | 6.11 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #1,986 | 18,169 | 6.16 | +1,695 bearers (+10.3%) | Up 33 places |
| 2020 | #2,023 | 17,465 | 5.84 | -704 bearers (-3.9%) | Down 37 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Addison surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #1,986 | #2,023 | -1.9% |
| Count | 18,169 | 17,465 | -3.9% |
| Per 100K | 6.16 | 5.84 | -5.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Addison bearers went from 18,169 to 17,465 (-3.9% change). The surname moved down 37 positions in the national ranking, going from #1,986 to #2,023.
FAQ
Addison surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Addison?
Name Census estimates that about 20,028 living Americans carry the surname Addison. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 17,114 residents.
How common is Addison?
Addison ranks #2,023 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 5.84 per 100,000 residents, which is about 6 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 17,465 people with the surname Addison. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (20,028), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 5.84 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 5.84 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 6 of them to have the surname Addison.
Has Addison become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Addison went from 18,169 recorded bearers to 17,465. That is a decrease of 704 (-3.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #1,986 to #2,023.
What does the Census say about the background of Addison?
Among Census respondents with the surname Addison, the largest self-reported group is White at 48.4%. The next largest groups are Black (42.3%) and Two or More Races (4.6%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Addison in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.4% (8,446 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Addison appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (48.4%), Black (42.3%), Two or More Races (4.6%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Addison (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Addison mean?
Son of Adam, or a patronymic surname derived from the given name Adam. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Addison (5.84 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the surname Addison?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.