Cash last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Cash

An occupational surname referring to a maker or seller of chests, boxes, or containers.

Cash, 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 Cash surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Cash in America

Cash is the 1200th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Cash surname appeared 29,476 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 10 people would have the surname Cash.

We can also compare 2010 data for Cash 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 1200 1123 6.63%
Count 29,476 28,572 3.11%
Proportion per 100k 9.99 10.59 -5.83%

The history of the last name Cash

The surname Cash is of English origin and dates back to the medieval period, around the 13th or 14th century. It is derived from the Old English word "cæsc," which means "cash" or "money." The name likely referred to a person who worked as a tax collector, moneylender, or banker.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Cash can be found in the Hundred Rolls of Cambridgeshire, a census-like record from 1273, where it is spelled "Casse." The name also appears in the Subsidy Rolls of Yorkshire in 1301, where it is written as "Cayssh."

In the 15th century, the name Cash was associated with several place names in England, such as Cashio in Hertfordshire and Cashmore in Gloucestershire. These place names may have influenced the spelling and pronunciation of the surname over time.

One notable figure with the surname Cash was John Cash (c. 1580-1659), an English politician who served as a Member of Parliament for Grantham during the English Civil War. Another early bearer of the name was William Cash (c. 1600-1680), an English merchant and landowner in Coventry.

The Cash surname gained further prominence in the 18th and 19th centuries. Sir John Cash (1756-1838) was a British naval officer who served during the American Revolutionary War and the Napoleonic Wars. Samuel Cash (1790-1866) was an English Quaker minister and writer known for his works on religious subjects.

In the 20th century, one of the most famous individuals with the surname Cash was Johnny Cash (1932-2003), the legendary American singer-songwriter and musician who was known as the "Man in Black." His contributions to country, rock, and folk music genres have earned him a place in the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Other notable individuals with the surname Cash include Rosanne Cash (born 1955), an American singer-songwriter and the eldest daughter of Johnny Cash, and Bill Cash (born 1940), a British politician and member of the Conservative Party who has served as a Member of Parliament since 1984.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Cash

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

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 Cash was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 78.56% 23,156
Non-Hispanic Black Only 15.54% 4,581
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 0.58% 171
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.67% 197
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 1.95% 575
Hispanic Origin 2.70% 796

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

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 78.56% 80.80% -2.81%
Black 15.54% 14.86% 4.47%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.58% 0.44% 27.45%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.67% 0.64% 4.58%
Two or More Races 1.95% 1.54% 23.50%
Hispanic 2.70% 1.71% 44.90%

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

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

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"Cash last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on December 4, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/cash-surname-popularity/.

"Cash last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/cash-surname-popularity/. Accessed 4 December, 2024

Cash last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/cash-surname-popularity/.

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