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

Coleman, 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 Coleman surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Coleman in America

Coleman is the 107th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Coleman surname appeared 219,070 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 74 people would have the surname Coleman.

We can also compare 2010 data for Coleman 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 Coleman

The surname Coleman originated in England and Ireland during the medieval period. It is derived from the occupational name for a charcoal burner or collier, from the Old English word "col" meaning coal or charcoal. The name is also found with the spellings Colman, Colemon, Coullman, and Coulman.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name is in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as "Colman". This suggests the name was already well-established by the 11th century in parts of England.

In Ireland, the surname Coleman is an anglicized form of the Gaelic name "O'Colmain" or "O'Colman", which means "descendant of Colman". The name is particularly associated with County Sligo and County Mayo.

Notable people with the surname Coleman include William Coleman (c. 1609-1698), an English-born Puritan settler in America who founded the town of Nantucket, Massachusetts. Another early bearer was Edward Coleman (c. 1636-1678), an English Catholic involved in the Popish Plot against King Charles II.

In the 18th century, Benjamin Coleman (1734-1805) was an English-born architect and surveyor who designed several notable buildings in Boston, Massachusetts. The 19th century saw the birth of Samuel Coleman (1826-1900), an English-born businessman and philanthropist who founded the village of Coleman's Hatch in Sussex.

One of the most famous Colemans was Gary Coleman (1968-2010), an American actor best known for his childhood role on the sitcom "Diff'rent Strokes". Other notable bearers include Ornette Coleman (1930-2015), an American jazz saxophonist and composer, and Basil Coleman (1904-1995), an English actor.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Coleman

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

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

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

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