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

Ashby, 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 Ashby surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Ashby in America

Ashby is the 2069th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Ashby surname appeared 17,482 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 Ashby.

We can also compare 2010 data for Ashby 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 Ashby

The surname ASHBY is of English origin, deriving from a place name meaning "ash-tree farm" or "ash-tree settlement." It is believed to have originated in the 9th or 10th century in the East Midlands region of England.

The name is composed of the Old English words "æsc" meaning ash tree, and "by" meaning a farmstead or village. It likely referred to a settlement or farmstead located near a prominent ash tree or a grove of ash trees.

Some early recorded instances of the name include Roger de Esseby in the Pipe Rolls of Lincolnshire in 1176, and William de Assheby in the Curia Regis Rolls of Nottinghamshire in 1198. The name is also found in the Domesday Book of 1086, listed as "Ascebi" and "Aschebi."

One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Robert Ashby, a 14th-century English clergyman and theologian who served as the Bishop of Salisbury from 1384 to 1395. Another notable figure was George Ashby (1507-1593), a prominent English lawyer and Member of Parliament during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

In the 17th century, John Ashby (1608-1692) was an English Puritan minister and author, known for his work "Reformation Conformity" published in 1689. Later, Thomas Ashby (1874-1931) was a renowned English archaeologist and explorer who made significant contributions to the study of ancient Roman sites in Italy.

A more recent figure was Malcolm Ashby (1910-1994), a British cybernetician and pioneer in the field of systems theory, who published influential works on the study of complex systems and their behavior.

Throughout history, variations of the spelling have included Ashbie, Assheby, and Ashbie, reflecting regional dialects and variations in pronunciation and spelling conventions over time.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Ashby

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

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

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

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