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

Bird, 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 Bird surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Bird in America

Bird is the 1041st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Bird surname appeared 33,457 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 11 people would have the surname Bird.

We can also compare 2010 data for Bird 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 Bird

The surname BIRD is of English origin and is derived from the Old English word "bridd" or "brid," which means a young bird or fowl. It was initially used as a nickname for someone who had a particular affinity or resemblance to birds.

The name BIRD can be traced back to the 13th century, with some of the earliest recorded instances appearing in the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire in 1273, where it was written as "Brid." The Hundredorum Rolls, also known as the Rotuli Hundredorum, were a series of administrative records compiled in England in the late 13th century.

In the Domesday Book of 1086, a survey of land and property ownership commissioned by William the Conqueror, there is mention of a place called "Bridestowe" in Devon, which may have been derived from the Old English words "brid" and "stow," meaning "a place of birds."

One of the earliest documented bearers of the surname BIRD was Roger le Brid, who was mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire in 1221. The Pipe Rolls were administrative records maintained by the English Exchequer, containing entries related to taxation and other financial matters.

During the 14th and 15th centuries, the surname BIRD was also found in various spellings, such as "Byrde," "Byrdd," and "Burde," reflecting the phonetic variations and regional dialects of the time.

Notable individuals with the surname BIRD throughout history include:

1. William Bird (c. 1560-1624), an English mathematician and writer on navigation and algebra.
2. Edward Bird (1572-1658), an English Puritan clergyman and one of the translators of the King James Version of the Bible.
3. William Bird (1738-1808), an English composer and organist who served as the organist of the Chapel Royal.
4. Robert Montgomery Bird (1806-1854), an American novelist, playwright, and poet.
5. Golding Bird (1815-1854), an English physician and chemist known for his work on kidney diseases.

The surname BIRD has also been associated with various place names, such as Birdingbury in Warwickshire, Birdbrook in Essex, and Bird-in-Hand in Pennsylvania, USA, which was founded by settlers with the surname BIRD.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Bird

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

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

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

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