Bywater last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Bywater

A locational surname derived from a place name meaning "by the water" or "near the stream".

Bywater, 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 Bywater surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Bywater in America

Bywater is the 24305th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Bywater surname appeared 1,032 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 Bywater.

We can also compare 2010 data for Bywater 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.

20102000Change (%)
Rank24305238631.84%
Count1,0329884.36%
Proportion per 100k0.350.37-5.56%

The history of the last name Bywater

The surname Bywater is of English origin, derived from a topographic name for someone who lived by a stream or water source. It is believed to have originated in the late medieval period, possibly as early as the 12th or 13th century.

Bywater is thought to be a combination of the Old English words "by," meaning "near" or "beside," and "wæter," meaning "water" or "stream." This suggests that the name was initially given to individuals who resided near a body of water, such as a river, lake, or stream.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Bywater can be found in the Feet of Fines records from Staffordshire, England, dating back to 1332. This document mentions a person named William Bywater.

Another early reference to the name appears in the Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem from 1400, which records the death of a John Bywater from Nottinghamshire.

Historically, the Bywater surname was particularly prevalent in the counties of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and Nottinghamshire in England. This is likely due to the abundance of waterways and streams in these regions, leading to the establishment of settlements near such water sources.

One notable individual with the surname Bywater was John Bywater (c. 1460-1537), an English clergyman who served as the Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield from 1519 until his death.

Another prominent figure was Ingram Bywater (1840-1914), a renowned English classical scholar and philologist known for his work on ancient Greek texts.

In the literary world, Geoffrey Bywater (1884-1955) was an English author and journalist who wrote several novels and works of non-fiction.

Sportingly, Frederick Bywater (1886-1955) was an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club in the early 20th century.

Finally, Thomas Bywater (1694-1744) was an English architect and surveyor who designed several notable buildings in London during the Georgian era.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Bywater

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

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 Bywater was:

Race/EthnicityPercentageTotal Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only94.67%977
Non-Hispanic Black Only(S)%(S)
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only(S)%(S)
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native1.36%14
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races1.36%14
Hispanic Origin2.03%21

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 Bywater has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

20102000Change (%)
White94.67%95.65%-1.03%
Black(S)%(S)%(S)%
Asian and Pacific Islander(S)%(S)%(S)%
American Indian and Alaskan Native1.36%0.61%76.14%
Two or More Races1.36%2.02%-39.05%
Hispanic2.03%0.81%85.92%

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

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

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