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

Fairbank, 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 Fairbank surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Fairbank in America

Fairbank is the 23978th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Fairbank surname appeared 1,052 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Fairbank.

We can also compare 2010 data for Fairbank 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 Fairbank

The surname Fairbank originates from England and dates back to the medieval period. Its earliest roots can be traced back to the 12th century, derived from the Old English words "faeger" meaning "fair, beautiful" and "banc" meaning "bank" or "ridge." The name likely referred to someone who lived near a pleasant bank or ridge.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire in 1166, where it appears as "Fairbankc." It is also mentioned in the Subsidy Rolls of Sussex in 1296 as "Fairbanke." These early spellings highlight the variation in the name's spelling over time.

The Fairbank surname is closely associated with the Yorkshire region of England, where it was particularly prevalent in the medieval era. Some historical references to the name can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which recorded landholdings across England after the Norman Conquest.

Notable individuals bearing the Fairbank surname throughout history include John Fairbank (1610-1671), an English landowner and Member of Parliament for Brackley in the 17th century. Another notable figure was Nathaniel Fairbank (1739-1789), an American Baptist minister and educator who founded the Fairbank Society in 1767.

In the 19th century, Joseph Fairbank (1812-1900) was a prominent English manufacturer who established the Fairbank Canning Company, one of the earliest companies to commercially package and distribute canned goods. His son, Nathaniel Fairbank (1841-1921), carried on the family business and expanded its operations.

Across the Atlantic, Caleb Fairbank (1792-1864) was an American Baptist missionary who worked in Burma (now Myanmar) and played a significant role in the translation of the Bible into the Burmese language.

The Fairbank surname has also been associated with various places in England, such as Fairbank in Lancashire and Fairbanks in Yorkshire, which further highlights its historical roots in the region.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Fairbank

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

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

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

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