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

By, 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 By surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of By in America

By is the 83541st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The By surname appeared 225 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname By.

We can also compare 2010 data for By 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 By

The surname "By" is believed to have originated in Norway, with its roots dating back to the Viking era. This name is thought to be derived from the Old Norse word "byr," which means a dwelling or a village. It is likely that the name was initially used to identify someone who lived in a particular village or settlement.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname "By" can be found in the Landnámabók, an Icelandic medieval manuscript that documents the settlement of Iceland in the 9th and 10th centuries. This work mentions individuals with the name "By," indicating that the surname was already in use during that time period.

In England, the surname "By" appears in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive record of landholders and their properties compiled in 1086 by order of King William the Conqueror. This suggests that individuals bearing this surname had likely settled in England following the Norman Conquest in 1066.

During the Middle Ages, the surname "By" was often associated with place names, particularly those ending with the suffix "-by," which is derived from the Old Norse word "byr." For example, the name "Derby" is believed to have originated from the Old English "Deor-a-by," meaning "deer village."

One notable individual with the surname "By" was Sir John de By, a 13th-century English knight who served as the Sheriff of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire during the reign of King Henry III (1216-1272). Another prominent figure was Thomas de By, a 14th-century English judge and Chief Justice of the Common Pleas under King Edward III (1312-1377).

In Scotland, the surname "By" has been associated with the Clan Mackie, a Highland Scottish clan with roots in Aberdeenshire. One famous member of this clan was James Mackie By (1753-1836), a Scottish merchant and landowner who acquired significant wealth through trade with the West Indies.

The surname "By" has also appeared in various spellings throughout history, such as "Bye," "Bey," and "Bhi." These variations often reflect regional dialects and differences in pronunciation or spelling conventions over time.

It is worth noting that while the surname "By" is relatively uncommon today, it has a rich historical legacy that spans several centuries and can be traced back to its origins in the Viking era and the early settlement of Scandinavian peoples across Europe.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name By

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

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

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

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