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

Cutler, 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 Cutler surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Cutler in America

Cutler is the 2331st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Cutler surname appeared 15,621 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 5 people would have the surname Cutler.

We can also compare 2010 data for Cutler 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 Cutler

The surname Cutler is an occupational name derived from the Old English word 'cultere' or 'culter', meaning a maker or seller of knives. It originated in England, likely during the medieval period, when surnames began to be adopted and passed down from generation to generation.

The name Cutler is believed to have first appeared in records around the 12th century. One of the earliest known references to the name can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire from 1166, which mention a person named William Cultelarius.

As an occupational surname, Cutler was particularly common in areas known for their cutlery and knife-making industries, such as Sheffield and Hallamshire in South Yorkshire. The name may also have been derived from place names like Cutlers Green in Worcestershire or Cutlers Close in Norfolk.

In the 13th century, the Hundred Rolls of 1273 recorded a Roger le Cultelir in Oxfordshire. The surname was also found in the Subsidy Rolls of Sussex in 1296, listing a John le Coutiller.

One notable early bearer of the name was Sir Gervase Cutler (c. 1505-1590), an English merchant and member of the Worshipful Company of Cutlers in London. He served as Lord Mayor of London in 1573.

Another prominent individual was John Cutler (c. 1608-1693), an English philosopher and instructor at the University of Cambridge. He is remembered for his work on the nature of perception and for his contributions to the Cambridge Platonist movement.

In the 17th century, Samuel Cutler (1638-1718) was a Puritan minister and one of the founders of Yale College in Connecticut, serving as its first rector from 1701 to 1707.

During the American Revolutionary War, Sir John Jarvis Cutler (1744-1786) was a British Army officer who served as the commander of the British forces in the Battle of Fort Washington in 1776.

In the 19th century, Elisha Cutler (1813-1891) was an American inventor credited with developing the first successful machine for making envelopes.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Cutler

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

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

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

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