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

Fitzwater, 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 Fitzwater surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Fitzwater in America

Fitzwater is the 8155th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Fitzwater surname appeared 4,066 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 Fitzwater.

We can also compare 2010 data for Fitzwater 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 Fitzwater

The surname FITZWATER is an old English name that originated in medieval times. It is derived from the Norman French words "fils" meaning son, and "de l'eau" meaning of the water. This suggests the name was likely given to someone who lived near a body of water such as a river or lake.

FITZWATER is thought to have emerged as a surname in England sometime in the 12th or 13th century after the Norman Conquest of 1066. One of the earliest known records of the name is found in the Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire from 1195, which mentions a Robert Fitz Water.

Over the centuries, the name has had various spellings including Fitzwater, Fitzwalter, Fitz Walter, and Fitzwarin. It is believed some branches of the family adopted the spelling Fitzwarin after a Norman knight named Warin who was granted lands in Shropshire by William the Conqueror.

A notable early bearer of the name was Sir William FitzWarin, Lord of Whittington (1137-1198). He was a powerful Marcher lord with vast estates in Shropshire and played a role in the Third Crusade. Another early example is Walter de Windsor, alias Fitzother or Fitzwalter (c.1170-1198), a prominent courtier under King Richard I.

In the 13th century, the Fitzwaters were an influential family who held the manor of Woughton in Buckinghamshire. Thomas Fitzwater (d.1334) was summoned to Parliament as a baron in 1321. His descendant, Sir John Fitzwater (c.1376-1412), served as Lord Deputy of Ireland from 1405-1408.

Other historically significant individuals with this surname include Sir William Fitzwater (1460-1536), Treasurer of the Household to King Henry VIII, and Michael Fitzwalter (fl.1670s), an English soldier who served under Prince Rupert during the English Civil War. Elizabeth Fitzwalter (1577-1586) was one of the last surviving legitimate descendants of the Fitzwalter Barons of Woodham Walter.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Fitzwater

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

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

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

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