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

Church, 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 Church surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Church in America

Church is the 966th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Church surname appeared 36,072 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 12 people would have the surname Church.

We can also compare 2010 data for Church 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 Church

The surname CHURCH is of English origin, derived from the Old English word "cirice" or "circe," meaning a church or a religious building. It is believed to have emerged as a surname during the medieval period, likely in the late 11th or early 12th century.

The name was originally used to identify individuals who lived near a church or were employed in some capacity by the church. It may have also been used as a descriptive surname for those who were particularly religious or devout.

The earliest recorded instances of the surname CHURCH can be found in various historical records and documents from the 12th and 13th centuries. For example, the Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire from 1190 mention a "Willelmus de la Churche," suggesting that the name was already in use at that time.

One of the earliest known bearers of the surname was William Atte Chirche, who was mentioned in the Subsidy Rolls of Sussex in 1296. The use of the prefix "atte" (meaning "at the") further reinforces the connection between the name and the physical location of a church.

During the medieval period, the name CHURCH was also associated with various place names that incorporated the word "church," such as Churchdown in Gloucestershire, Churchstanton in Somerset, and Churchover in Warwickshire. These place names likely influenced the adoption and spread of the surname in those areas.

Notable individuals with the surname CHURCH throughout history include:

1. Benjamin Church (c. 1639-1718), a famous English colonial military leader and ranger during King William's War and Queen Anne's War.
2. Richard Church (1784-1873), an English painter and etcher known for his landscape and architectural works.
3. Frederic Edwin Church (1826-1900), an American landscape painter renowned for his large-scale paintings of natural scenery.
4. Alonzo Church (1903-1995), an American mathematician and logician who made significant contributions to the fields of computer science and logic.
5. Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965), the renowned British statesman, orator, and Prime Minister during World War II, who was not directly related to the CHURCH surname but shared a similar name.

While the surname CHURCH has its roots in English history and language, it has since spread to various parts of the world, including North America, Australia, and other English-speaking countries, through migration and cultural exchange.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Church

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

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

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

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