2000
#13,000
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,162
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.80
Rare Last name
Cassity
Derived from an English place name meaning "Cassa's island," referring to a settlement on a piece of dry land.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,432 Americans carry the last name Cassity. That puts it at #13,676 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.71 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 140,935 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Cassity surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
2.4K
1 in 140,935
Census rank
#13,676
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.1K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,121 bearers of the surname Cassity in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.71 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 13676th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Cassity, the largest self-reported group is White at 87.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.5%) and Two or More Races (4.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Cassity
The surname Cassity is believed to have originated in the English county of Staffordshire during the late medieval period. It is derived from the Old English word "cæssic," which means "marshy ground" or "boggy area." This suggests that the earliest bearers of the name likely lived in or near a marshy region.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Staffordshire, a collection of financial records from the late 12th century. In these rolls, a person named Reginald de Cassethi is mentioned, which is likely an early variation of the Cassity surname.
During the 13th and 14th centuries, several variations of the name appeared in various historical documents, including the Hundred Rolls of Staffordshire (1275), where a Walter de Cassite is mentioned, and the Subsidy Rolls of Staffordshire (1327), which record a John de Cassyte.
While the Cassity surname does not appear in the famous Domesday Book of 1086, there are several place names in Staffordshire that may have influenced the surname's development, such as Casewick and Casterne, both of which contain elements of the Old English word "cæssic."
One notable early bearer of the Cassity name was Sir John Cassity, a knight who lived in the late 14th century and fought in the Hundred Years' War. Another was William Cassity, a yeoman farmer from Staffordshire who was recorded in the Lay Subsidy Rolls of 1524.
In the 16th century, the Cassity surname began to spread beyond Staffordshire, with records showing individuals bearing the name in neighboring counties such as Derbyshire and Warwickshire. During this period, a variant spelling, "Cassetie," also emerged.
In the 17th century, a notable figure was Richard Cassity (1626-1701), a prosperous merchant from London who traded with the American colonies. Another was John Cassity (1640-1712), a Puritan minister who emigrated to Massachusetts and served as the pastor of the First Church of Roxbury.
By the 18th century, the Cassity surname had become well-established in various parts of England, as well as in the American colonies. One notable American bearer of the name was Samuel Cassity (1738-1815), a soldier who fought in the Revolutionary War and later settled in Kentucky.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cassity
Among Census respondents with the surname Cassity, the largest self-reported group is White at 87.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.5%) and Two or More Races (4.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Cassity bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Cassity surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.7% · 1,861
- Hispanic or Latino4.5% · 95
- Two or more races4.4% · 94
- Black or African American2.2% · 46
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 13
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 12
Timeline
Historical Census data for Cassity
Cassity appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#13,603
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,227
+65 bearers (+3.0%)
Per 100,000 0.75
Rank movement Down 603 places
2020
#13,676
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,121
-106 bearers (-4.8%)
Per 100,000 0.71
Rank movement Down 73 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #13,000 | 2,162 | 0.80 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #13,603 | 2,227 | 0.75 | +65 bearers (+3.0%) | Down 603 places |
| 2020 | #13,676 | 2,121 | 0.71 | -106 bearers (-4.8%) | Down 73 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Cassity surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #13,603 | #13,676 | -0.5% |
| Count | 2,227 | 2,121 | -4.8% |
| Per 100K | 0.75 | 0.71 | -5.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Cassity bearers went from 2,227 to 2,121 (-4.8% change). The surname moved down 73 positions in the national ranking, going from #13,603 to #13,676.
FAQ
Cassity surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Cassity?
Name Census estimates that about 2,432 living Americans carry the surname Cassity. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 140,935 residents.
How common is Cassity?
Cassity ranks #13,676 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.71 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,121 people with the surname Cassity. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,432), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.71 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.71 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Cassity.
Has Cassity become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Cassity went from 2,227 recorded bearers to 2,121. That is a decrease of 106 (-4.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #13,603 to #13,676.
What does the Census say about the background of Cassity?
Among Census respondents with the surname Cassity, the largest self-reported group is White at 87.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.5%) and Two or More Races (4.4%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Cassity in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.7% (1,861 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Cassity appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (87.7%), Hispanic (4.5%), Two or More Races (4.4%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Cassity (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Cassity mean?
Derived from an English place name meaning "Cassa's island," referring to a settlement on a piece of dry land. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Cassity (0.71 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the surname Cassity?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.