2000
#1,985
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 16,723
First available Census row
Per 100,000 6.20
Uncommon Last name
Ashby
A locational surname referring to someone from one of several places called Ashby in England, meaning "ash tree farm."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 19,591 Americans carry the last name Ashby. That puts it at #2,063 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 5.72 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 17,495 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Ashby 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 Ashby with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
20K
1 in 17,495
Census rank
#2,063
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
5.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
17K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 17,084 bearers of the surname Ashby in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 5.72 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 2063rd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Ashby, the largest self-reported group is White at 78.8%. The next largest groups are Black (12.3%) and Two or More Races (3.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of 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.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ashby
Among Census respondents with the surname Ashby, the largest self-reported group is White at 78.8%. The next largest groups are Black (12.3%) and Two or More Races (3.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Ashby 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 Ashby surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.8% · 13,466
- Black or African American12.3% · 2,096
- Two or more races3.9% · 663
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 644
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 109
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 106
Timeline
Historical Census data for Ashby
Ashby 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
#2,069
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 17,482
+759 bearers (+4.5%)
Per 100,000 5.93
Rank movement Down 84 places
2020
#2,063
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 17,084
-398 bearers (-2.3%)
Per 100,000 5.72
Rank movement Up 6 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #1,985 | 16,723 | 6.20 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #2,069 | 17,482 | 5.93 | +759 bearers (+4.5%) | Down 84 places |
| 2020 | #2,063 | 17,084 | 5.72 | -398 bearers (-2.3%) | Up 6 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 Ashby 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 | #2,069 | #2,063 | 0.3% |
| Count | 17,482 | 17,084 | -2.3% |
| Per 100K | 5.93 | 5.72 | -3.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Ashby bearers went from 17,482 to 17,084 (-2.3% change). The surname moved up 6 positions in the national ranking, going from #2,069 to #2,063.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Ashby
FAQ
Ashby surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Ashby?
Name Census estimates that about 19,591 living Americans carry the surname Ashby. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 17,495 residents.
How common is Ashby?
Ashby ranks #2,063 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 5.72 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 17,084 people with the surname Ashby. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (19,591), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 5.72 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 5.72 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 Ashby.
Has Ashby become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Ashby went from 17,482 recorded bearers to 17,084. That is a decrease of 398 (-2.3%). In the national ranking it rose from #2,069 to #2,063.
What does the Census say about the background of Ashby?
Among Census respondents with the surname Ashby, the largest self-reported group is White at 78.8%. The next largest groups are Black (12.3%) and Two or More Races (3.9%). 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 Ashby in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.8% (13,466 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Ashby appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (78.8%), Black (12.3%), Two or More Races (3.9%). 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 Ashby (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 Ashby mean?
A locational surname referring to someone from one of several places called Ashby in England, meaning "ash tree farm." 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 Ashby (5.72 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 last name Ashby?
Find out how common the surname Ashby is on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.