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

Fyfe, 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 Fyfe surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Fyfe in America

Fyfe is the 17063rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Fyfe surname appeared 1,664 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 Fyfe.

We can also compare 2010 data for Fyfe 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 Fyfe

The surname Fyfe is of Scottish origin and dates back to the 12th century. It is derived from the Old French word "fife," which means a small pipe or whistle. This suggests that the name may have originally been an occupational name for a piper or musician.

The Fyfe surname is believed to have originated in the counties of Fife, Perthshire, and Angus in eastern Scotland. The earliest recorded spelling of the name appears to be "Fyfe" in the Ragman Rolls of 1296, which were a series of homage rolls listing Scots who pledged allegiance to King Edward I of England.

One of the earliest known bearers of the Fyfe surname was Sir John de Fyfe, who was a Scottish knight and landowner from Fife. He was mentioned in several charters and records from the late 13th and early 14th centuries.

Another notable Fyfe was Andrew Fyfe, who was born in Fife around 1410 and served as the King's Chaplain and Secretary to King James II of Scotland in the mid-15th century. He was also the Rector of the University of St Andrews.

In the 16th century, there was a prominent family of Fyfes who were landowners in the Parish of Dunfermline, Fife. One member of this family was Sir John Fyfe, who was a Burgess of Dunfermline and served as a Commissioner for the county of Fife in the Scottish Parliament in the late 1500s.

The Fyfe surname has also been associated with the Scottish town of Cupar in Fife, which was historically known as "Couper of Fyfe." This place name connection may have contributed to the surname's development.

Other notable historical figures with the Fyfe surname include Robert Fyfe (1564-1636), a Scottish Presbyterian minister and author, and James Fyfe (1767-1851), a Scottish journalist and political reformer who was involved in the radical movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Fyfe

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

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

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

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