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

Childress, 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 Childress surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Childress in America

Childress is the 1424th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Childress surname appeared 24,937 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 8 people would have the surname Childress.

We can also compare 2010 data for Childress 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 Childress

The surname Childress is of English origin, derived from the Old English words 'cild' meaning child and 'res' meaning a thicket or brushwood. It was initially a toponymic surname, referring to a person who lived near a thicket where children played or gathered.

The earliest known record of the name dates back to the 13th century, found in the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire in 1275, where it was spelled as 'Childres'. Over time, various spellings emerged, including Childers, Childresse, and Childrice.

One of the earliest notable bearers of the name was John Childress, a merchant from London, who lived in the late 16th century. His name appeared in the records of the Worshipful Company of Mercers, one of the oldest livery companies in the City of London.

During the 17th century, the Childress family established roots in Virginia, USA. One of the earliest settlers was Robert Childress, who arrived in the colony in 1635 and was granted land in what is now Isle of Wight County.

Another prominent figure was John Childress, born in 1692 in Westmoreland County, Virginia. He served as a justice of the peace and was a member of the House of Burgesses, representing Westmoreland County from 1734 to 1740.

In the 18th century, Richard Childress, born in 1755 in North Carolina, fought in the American Revolutionary War and later became a successful planter and landowner in Tennessee.

The name Childress has also been associated with several place names, such as Childress County in Texas, named after George C. Childress, one of the signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence in 1836.

Other notable individuals with the surname Childress include Sarah Childress Polk, the wife of the 11th President of the United States, James K. Polk (1795-1849), and Richard Childress, a former NASCAR driver and current team owner, born in 1945.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Childress

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

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

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

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