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

Greenfield, 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 Greenfield surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Greenfield in America

Greenfield is the 3007th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Greenfield surname appeared 11,922 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 4 people would have the surname Greenfield.

We can also compare 2010 data for Greenfield 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 Greenfield

The surname Greenfield is of English origin and dates back to the medieval era. It is a locational name derived from various places called "Greenfield" found across different counties in England. These place names were descriptive, referring to fields or open spaces covered in green vegetation.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Greenfield can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as "Grenefelde." This entry suggests that the name was already in use by the late 11th century in parts of England.

During the 13th and 14th centuries, the name continued to appear in various historical records and documents, often with slight variations in spelling such as "Grenfeld," "Grenefeld," and "Greneville." These variations were common due to the lack of standardized spelling conventions at the time.

One notable bearer of the Greenfield surname was Sir Richard Greenfield (c. 1434-1510), a prominent English landowner and Member of Parliament for Hertfordshire during the reign of Henry VIII. Another historical figure was John Greenfield (1615-1677), an English clergyman and author who served as the Archdeacon of Chichester.

In the 17th century, the surname appeared in various parish records and census documents across England, particularly in counties like Derbyshire, Staffordshire, and Cheshire. One prominent individual from this period was Edward Greenfield (1629-1691), an English mathematician and astrologer who published several works on astronomy and astrology.

The 18th century saw the emergence of John Greenfield (1760-1837), a British naval officer and explorer who led several expeditions to the Arctic regions. He is particularly known for his work in mapping the coastlines of Greenland and the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.

Moving into the 19th century, one notable bearer of the Greenfield surname was Benjamin Greenfield (1789-1866), an American industrialist and inventor who contributed significantly to the development of the textile industry in New England.

Throughout its history, the Greenfield surname has been associated with various locations and place names, such as Greenfield in Derbyshire, Greenfield in Flintshire, Wales, and Greenfield in Bedfordshire, among others. These place names likely contributed to the widespread adoption and distribution of the surname across different regions of England and later, other parts of the world.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Greenfield

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!