Diamond last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Diamond

A surname referring to a jeweler, diamond cutter, or one who had diamonds on their coat of arms.

Diamond, 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 Diamond surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Diamond in America

Diamond is the 1670th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Diamond surname appeared 21,586 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 7 people would have the surname Diamond.

We can also compare 2010 data for Diamond 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 1670 1578 5.67%
Count 21,586 20,860 3.42%
Proportion per 100k 7.32 7.73 -5.45%

The history of the last name Diamond

The surname Diamond is of English origin, derived from the Old French word "diamant," which comes from the ancient Greek "adamas," meaning "invincible." The name first appeared in English records around the 13th century.

Diamond is an occupational surname, initially given to those who worked with diamonds or other precious gemstones. In medieval times, diamond workers were highly skilled artisans responsible for cutting, polishing, and setting diamonds into jewelry and other ornaments for the nobility and wealthy classes.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Diamond can be found in the Hundred Rolls of Cambridgeshire, dated around 1273, which mentions a Robert le Diamaunt. This indicates that the name was already in use by the latter half of the 13th century.

In the 14th century, a notable figure bearing the surname Diamond was John Diamond, a merchant and alderman of London, who served as the city's Mayor in 1379. He was a prominent figure in the wool trade and played a significant role in the governance of the city during that period.

Another early record of the name can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire from 1379, which lists a Richard Diamond. This suggests that the surname had spread throughout different regions of England by that time.

During the 16th century, a famous bearer of the surname was John Diamond, an English poet and writer born in 1559. He is best known for his work "The Conspiracie of Scripture and Truth," published in 1593.

In the 17th century, Sir William Diamond, born in 1611, was a notable English soldier and politician who served as the Governor of Ireland from 1670 to 1672. He played a crucial role in suppressing the Irish Rebellion of 1641.

In the 18th century, Theodor Diamond, born in 1733, was a prominent German-English painter and engraver. He was known for his landscape paintings and etchings, which captured the beauty of the English countryside.

The surname Diamond has also been associated with various place names, such as Diamond Hill in Bristol, England, and Diamond Valley in South Africa, further reflecting its historical significance and geographic spread.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Diamond

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

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 Diamond was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 85.02% 18,352
Non-Hispanic Black Only 8.68% 1,874
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 0.87% 188
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.51% 110
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 1.85% 399
Hispanic Origin 3.07% 663

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 Diamond has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 85.02% 87.87% -3.30%
Black 8.68% 7.59% 13.40%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.87% 0.73% 17.50%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.51% 0.40% 24.18%
Two or More Races 1.85% 1.58% 15.74%
Hispanic 3.07% 1.84% 50.10%

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

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

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"Diamond last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on October 31, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/diamond-surname-popularity/.

"Diamond last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/diamond-surname-popularity/. Accessed 31 October, 2024

Diamond last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/diamond-surname-popularity/.

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