Foggy last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Foggy

An occupational surname referring to someone living near or associated with fog.

Foggy, 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 Foggy surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Foggy in America

Foggy is the 89753rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Foggy surname appeared 206 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 Foggy.

We can also compare 2010 data for Foggy 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 89753 96480 -7.22%
Count 206 175 16.27%
Proportion per 100k 0.07 0.06 15.38%

The history of the last name Foggy

The surname Foggy is believed to have originated in England, likely during the late medieval period or the Renaissance era. It is thought to be a descriptive surname derived from the Middle English word "foggy," referring to someone who lived in a foggy area or was associated with foggy or misty conditions.

One theory suggests that the name may have been first adopted by individuals residing in areas prone to fog or mist, such as coastal regions or areas near marshlands or bodies of water. The name could have been used to distinguish between families or individuals based on their geographic location.

Historical records and documents from the 16th and 17th centuries provide some of the earliest mentions of the surname Foggy. For instance, the name appears in the parish records of St. Mary's Church in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, dating back to the late 1500s.

In the early 17th century, a man named John Foggy was recorded as a resident of the town of Ipswich, also in Suffolk. This is one of the earliest documented instances of an individual bearing the surname Foggy.

The name Foggy has also been linked to various place names and locations throughout England. For example, there is a hamlet called Foggy Furze in the county of Norfolk, and a farm called Foggy Hall in the village of Buxton, Norfolk. It is possible that some individuals may have adopted the surname based on their association with these or similar places.

Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals with the surname Foggy. One prominent figure was Sir William Foggy (1560-1635), an English merchant and politician who served as a Member of Parliament for the borough of Ipswich in the early 17th century.

Another noteworthy individual was Richard Foggy (1678-1741), an English clergyman and writer who authored several religious works, including "The Practical Expositor of the Holy Scriptures" and "The Family Expositor."

In the 19th century, James Foggy (1810-1887) was a Scottish architect and engineer known for his work on numerous buildings and infrastructure projects in Glasgow and other parts of Scotland.

William Foggy (1845-1921) was a British author and journalist who wrote extensively on topics related to agriculture and rural life, publishing books such as "The Book of the Farm" and "The Rural Encyclopaedia."

More recently, David Foggy (1922-2003) was a British painter and artist known for his landscapes and seascapes, many of which depicted the coastal regions of Cornwall and other parts of southwestern England.

While the surname Foggy may have originated from humble beginnings, describing individuals associated with foggy or misty conditions, it has been carried by notable figures throughout history, spanning various professions and fields.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Foggy

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

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 Foggy was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 13.59% 28
Non-Hispanic Black Only 79.13% 163
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.00% 0
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 5.83% 12
Hispanic Origin (S)% (S)

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

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 13.59% 13.71% -0.88%
Black 79.13% 80.00% -1.09%
Asian and Pacific Islander (S)% 0.00% (S)%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%
Two or More Races 5.83% 6.29% -7.59%
Hispanic (S)% 0.00% (S)%

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

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

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"Foggy last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on November 22, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/foggy-surname-popularity/.

"Foggy last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/foggy-surname-popularity/. Accessed 22 November, 2024

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

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