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

Cambridge, 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 Cambridge surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Cambridge in America

Cambridge is the 17559th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Cambridge surname appeared 1,602 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Cambridge.

We can also compare 2010 data for Cambridge 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 Cambridge

The surname Cambridge originated in England, deriving its name from the town of Cambridge in the county of Cambridgeshire. The name is thought to have originated in the late 11th or early 12th century, shortly after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066.

The town of Cambridge was first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Grentebrige," meaning "bridge over the River Granta." The name eventually evolved into its current form, Cambridge, by the 13th century. The earliest recorded use of the surname Cambridge dates back to 1185, when a man named Robert de Cambridge was mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Lincolnshire.

One of the earliest recorded individuals with the surname Cambridge was William de Cambridge, a 13th-century English nobleman who served as Lord of the Manor of Cambridge. In the 14th century, another notable figure named John Cambridge was a prominent merchant and alderman in the city of London.

During the 15th century, the Cambridge surname gained prominence with the rise of the House of Tudor. Richard Cambridge, who lived from 1445 to 1487, was a close ally of King Henry VII and served as the High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire. Another notable figure was Sir Thomas Cambridge, who fought alongside Henry VIII at the Battle of the Spurs in 1513.

In the 17th century, Thomas Cambridge (1589-1665) was an English clergyman and scholar who served as the Master of Christ's College, Cambridge. He was known for his work in promoting the study of Hebrew and other Semitic languages.

One of the most famous individuals with the surname Cambridge was Charles Cambridge (1690-1741), an English actor and playwright who was a prominent figure in the London theater scene during the early 18th century. He is best known for his satirical plays that lampooned the political and social issues of the time.

Throughout its history, the Cambridge surname has been associated with the town and university of the same name, reflecting the deep ties that many families with this surname have had to the region. While the name has spread throughout England and beyond, it remains closely linked to its origins in Cambridgeshire.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Cambridge

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!