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

Claiborne, 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 Claiborne surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Claiborne in America

Claiborne is the 159712th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Claiborne surname appeared 101 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Claiborne.

The history of the last name Claiborne

The surname Clairborne is of French origin, derived from the Old French words "cler" meaning "clear" or "bright," and "borne" meaning "boundary" or "stream." It is believed to have originated in the 12th or 13th century in the region of Normandy, France.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landholdings in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The Clairborne family is mentioned as holding lands in the county of Devon.

During the Middle Ages, the name was also spelled as Clereborne, Clerborne, and Clairbournefort, reflecting regional variations in pronunciation and spelling conventions of the time. The name was likely associated with a place name or a location near a clear stream or boundary marker.

In the 14th century, a notable member of the Clairborne family was Sir John Clairborne, a knight who fought alongside Edward III during the Hundred Years' War against France. He was born around 1320 and died in 1387.

Another prominent figure was William Clairborne, an English colonist who played a significant role in the early settlement of Virginia in the 17th century. He was born around 1587 and served as a member of the Virginia Company, establishing the colony of Kent Island in the Chesapeake Bay.

In the 18th century, William C. C. Clairborne was a prominent American politician and lawyer who served as the first governor of the Mississippi Territory from 1801 to 1803. He was born in 1775 and died in 1847.

During the American Civil War, General Patrick Ronayne Clairborne, born in 1828 and died in 1916, was a Confederate officer who served in the Western Theater of operations.

Another notable figure was John F. H. Clairborne, an American jurist and politician who served as a United States Representative from Mississippi from 1865 to 1869. He was born in 1808 and died in 1879.

While the surname Clairborne has French roots, it has been adopted and used by families in various parts of the world, including England, America, and other English-speaking countries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Claiborne

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

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 Claiborne 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.

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

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Claiborne, 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!