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

Cordes, 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 Cordes surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Cordes in America

Cordes is the 5742nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Cordes surname appeared 6,035 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Cordes.

We can also compare 2010 data for Cordes 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 Cordes

The surname Cordes has its origins in France, tracing back to the early medieval period. It is derived from the Old French word "corde," meaning "rope" or "cord," suggesting a possible occupational connection to rope-making or a trade involving ropes.

One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name can be found in the Cartulaire de l'abbaye de Saint-Père de Chartres, a medieval cartulary from the 12th century. This document contains references to individuals bearing the surname Cordes residing in the Chartres region of northern France.

During the 13th century, the surname Cordes appeared in various records across Normandy and Brittany. Some notable examples include Guilleaume Cordes, a merchant from Rouen mentioned in the city's archives in 1265, and Jehan Cordes, a landowner from Saint-Malo recorded in a charter from 1289.

In the 14th century, the surname gained prominence in the region of Picardy, particularly in the town of Corbie. The Livre des bourgeois de Corbie, a historical record from 1369, lists several families with the surname Cordes among the town's prominent citizens.

During the Renaissance period, the Cordes surname spread to other parts of France and beyond. One notable figure was Jacques Cordes, a French poet and philosopher born in Toulouse in 1558 and known for his works on metaphysics and natural philosophy.

In the 17th century, the Cordes family established a presence in the French colony of Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti). Pierre Cordes, born in 1632 in Normandy, was one of the early settlers in the colony and served as a plantation owner and merchant.

Over the centuries, the surname Cordes has also been found in various spellings, such as Cordès, Cordé, and Cordée, reflecting regional variations and linguistic changes.

Other notable individuals bearing the Cordes surname include:

1. Jean-Baptiste Cordes (1768-1840), a French military officer who served in the Napoleonic Wars and became a Baron of the Empire.
2. Marie-Madeleine Cordes (1752-1829), a French Catholic nun and educator who founded the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Family in Avignon.
3. Wilhelm Cordes (1840-1917), a German architect and urban planner known for his work in Berlin and Hamburg.
4. Émile Cordes (1857-1945), a French artist and painter associated with the Barbizon School and the Impressionist movement.
5. Eugen Cordes (1886-1969), a German mathematician and educator who made significant contributions to the field of complex analysis.

While the surname Cordes has its roots in France, it has since spread to various parts of the world, carried by migrations and cultural exchanges throughout history.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Cordes

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

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

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

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