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

Greenough, 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 Greenough surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Greenough in America

Greenough is the 16343rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Greenough surname appeared 1,763 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 Greenough.

We can also compare 2010 data for Greenough 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 Greenough

The surname GREENOUGH is of English origin and can be traced back to the late 12th century. It is derived from the Old English words "grene" meaning "green" and "hough" meaning "ridge" or "hill," suggesting that the name originally referred to someone who lived near a green hill or ridge.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the GREENOUGH name can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire from 1195, where a Roger de Grenehull is mentioned. This early spelling variation reflects the name's evolution over time.

In the 13th century, the GREENOUGH name appeared in various records, including the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire from 1273, where a Robert de Grenehull is listed. This suggests that the name was well-established in different parts of England by this period.

The GREENOUGH surname is also closely tied to place names in England. For example, there is a village called Greenough in Northamptonshire, which likely contributed to the surname's origins and early use.

One notable early bearer of the GREENOUGH name was Sir Bevil Greenough (1596-1643), an English Civil War soldier who fought for King Charles I and was killed at the Battle of Lansdowne in Somerset.

In the 17th century, the GREENOUGH name gained prominence with the birth of Edward Greenough (1642-1737), a British politician and member of the Parliament of Great Britain for Launceston from 1708 to 1710.

Another significant figure was Horatio Greenough (1805-1852), an American sculptor and the first American to gain recognition as a sculptor abroad. He is best known for his marble statue "The Grecian Maiden" and the bust of John Adams.

In the 19th century, James Bradstreet Greenough (1833-1901) was a prominent American scholar and author who made significant contributions to the study of Latin grammar and composition.

One of the most famous bearers of the GREENOUGH name in the 20th century was Chester Noyes Greenough (1888-1976), an American psychiatrist and professor at Harvard Medical School, renowned for his work on personality disorders and psychoanalytic theory.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Greenough

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

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

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

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