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

Ervin, 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 Ervin surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Ervin in America

Ervin is the 1377th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Ervin surname appeared 25,698 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 9 people would have the surname Ervin.

We can also compare 2010 data for Ervin 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 Ervin

The surname Ervin has its origins in the Old English and Anglo-Saxon languages. It is derived from the personal name Ervine, which itself is a combination of the elements "aru," meaning "honor" or "messenger," and "wine," meaning "friend." The name can be traced back to the 8th century in England.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Ervin is in the Domesday Book of 1086, a manuscript record of landholders in England commissioned by William the Conqueror. The Domesday Book mentions an individual named Ervinus, which is believed to be an early spelling variation of Ervin.

During the Middle Ages, the surname Ervin was primarily concentrated in the counties of Lincolnshire and Yorkshire in northern England. It is likely that the name was originally associated with particular locations or estates within these regions, as was common with many surnames during this period.

Notable individuals with the surname Ervin throughout history include:

1. John Ervin (c. 1470-1544), an English clergyman who served as the Bishop of Bangor from 1512 to 1544.
2. James Ervin (1616-1682), a Scottish merchant and landowner who was actively involved in the colonization of Ulster in Ireland.
3. William Ervin (1734-1806), an American soldier who fought in the Revolutionary War and later served as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates.
4. Samuel Ervin (1896-1985), an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senator from North Carolina and gained national prominence as the chair of the Senate Watergate Committee.
5. Jesse Ervin (1892-1980), an American baseball player who played in the Major Leagues for the St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Braves in the early 20th century.

Over time, the surname Ervin has also been associated with various place names and locations, reflecting the migration patterns of families bearing the name. For example, there are places named Ervin in Tennessee and North Carolina in the United States.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Ervin

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

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

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

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