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

Dewar, 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 Dewar surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Dewar in America

Dewar is the 11168th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Dewar surname appeared 2,833 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 Dewar.

We can also compare 2010 data for Dewar 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 Dewar

The surname Dewar originated in Scotland and dates back to the 12th century. It is derived from the Scottish Gaelic word "deabhair," which means "able fighter" or "skilled person." The name was likely given as a descriptive name to someone who was known for their skill in battle or a particular craft.

The earliest recorded spelling of the name is found in the Ragman Rolls of 1296, where it appears as "Dewere." This document contains the names of Scottish nobles who swore allegiance to King Edward I of England after the Scottish Wars of Independence.

In the 14th century, the name appears in various forms, such as "Deuere" and "Dewere," in Scottish charters and records. One notable bearer of the name was Sir Robert Dewar, a Scottish knight who fought alongside King Robert the Bruce in the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.

The Dewar family has a long history in Scotland, with several distinguished members throughout the centuries. One of the most famous was Sir Thomas Dewar (1864-1930), a Scottish whisky distiller and entrepreneur who founded the Dewar's whisky brand. He was also a philanthropist and served as Lord Provost of Perth.

Another notable Dewar was Sir James Dewar (1842-1923), a Scottish chemist and physicist who is best known for his pioneering work on the liquefaction of gases and the study of low-temperature phenomena. He was the inventor of the Dewar vacuum flask, which is widely used for storing cryogenic materials.

In the literary world, Sir Walter Dewar (1897-1981) was a Scottish writer and historian who wrote extensively on Scottish history and culture. He served as the Rector of the University of Aberdeen and was awarded the prestigious Saltire Society Book of the Year Award.

The Dewar name has also been associated with various place names in Scotland, such as Dewartown and Dewarknowe, which are located in the Scottish Borders region. These place names may have derived from the surname or vice versa, as it was common for families to take their names from the areas they inhabited.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Dewar

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!