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

Custis, 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 Custis surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Custis in America

Custis is the 16856th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Custis surname appeared 1,693 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 Custis.

We can also compare 2010 data for Custis 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 Custis

The surname Custis originates from England and dates back to the medieval period, specifically around the 12th century. It is believed to be derived from the Old French word "cousteis," which means "costly" or "expensive," suggesting that the name may have initially been a nickname or a descriptive surname for someone considered extravagant or affluent.

One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Custis can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire in 1199, where a person named Custis is listed as a landowner. The name also appears in various other historical records, such as the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire in 1327, and the Lay Subsidy Rolls of Somerset in 1525.

The Custis surname has been associated with several notable individuals throughout history. One of the earliest recorded figures with this surname was Sir John Custis (c. 1550-1628), an English landowner and Member of Parliament for Hingham, Norfolk, during the reign of King James I.

Another prominent figure was John Custis IV (1678-1749), a wealthy planter and landowner in colonial Virginia. He married Frances Parke, the granddaughter of William Randolph, one of the earliest English settlers in Virginia. Their son, Daniel Parke Custis (1711-1757), inherited a vast estate and married Martha Dandridge, who later became the wife of George Washington.

John Parker Custis (1755-1781), the son of Daniel Parke Custis and Martha Dandridge Custis, played a role in the American Revolutionary War. He served as an aide-de-camp to General Washington and was present at several key battles, including the Siege of Yorktown in 1781, where he contracted a illness and died shortly after.

Another notable figure was George Washington Parke Custis (1781-1857), the grandson of Martha Washington and the adopted son of George Washington. He was a prominent author, playwright, and advocate for the preservation of George Washington's legacy, founding the Arlington House plantation, which later became Arlington National Cemetery.

Throughout history, the Custis surname has also been associated with various place names and locations. For example, the Custis Square Historic District in Arlington, Virginia, is named after the Custis family, who owned large tracts of land in the area.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Custis

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

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

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

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