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

Cruise, 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 Cruise surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Cruise in America

Cruise is the 9794th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Cruise surname appeared 3,306 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Cruise.

We can also compare 2010 data for Cruise 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 Cruise

The surname CRUISE is of English origin and is thought to have derived from the Old French word "crois" or "cruce", meaning "cross". It was likely an occupational surname given to those who carried or painted crosses during religious processions.

The earliest recorded instances of the name date back to the 13th century. In the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273, the name appears as "Robertus Croyce". The Subsidy Rolls of Yorkshire from 1297 also mention a "Johannes Crous".

During the Middle Ages, the name was often spelled in various ways, including Crois, Croys, Crouse, and Cruce. Some of these spelling variations may have been influenced by the Latin word "crux", meaning "cross".

In the Domesday Book of 1086, there is a record of a place called "Cruce" in Wiltshire, which may have been the origin of the surname for some families.

One of the earliest notable bearers of the name was Sir John Cruise, a merchant and alderman of London who lived during the 15th century. He served as the Lord Mayor of London in 1471.

In the 16th century, the CRUISE surname was also found in Ireland, where it may have been adopted by settlers or derived independently from the Irish word "crois" meaning "cross".

Another prominent individual with this surname was William Cruise, an English politician and Member of Parliament for the borough of Tregony in Cornwall during the late 17th century.

During the 18th century, the CRUISE name appeared in various parts of England, including Northumberland, where a family of that name held lands in the parish of Ingram.

In the 19th century, one notable bearer of the CRUISE surname was Thomas Cruise, an English artist and painter who was born in 1796 and known for his landscapes and seascapes.

Another individual of note was Samuel Ebenezer Cruise, an English author and writer on agriculture, who was born in 1794 and published several works on rural economy and farming practices.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Cruise

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

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

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

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