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

Hart, 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 Hart surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Hart in America

Hart is the 207th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Hart surname appeared 137,184 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 47 people would have the surname Hart.

We can also compare 2010 data for Hart 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 Hart

The surname Hart is an English surname that originated in the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old English word "heorot," which means "hart" or "stag." The name was first used as a descriptive nickname for someone who lived near a forest or displayed stag-like characteristics.

The earliest recorded instance of the Hart surname can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as "Hert" and "Harte." During the 12th and 13th centuries, the name spread across England, with various spellings such as "Hert," "Harte," and "Hart" emerging.

One of the earliest known bearers of the Hart surname was Sir Percival Hart, a knight who fought in the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. Another notable figure was Sir John Hart (c. 1501-1573), a English merchant and alderman of London who served as Lord Mayor of London in 1568-1569.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Hart surname was associated with several prominent families, including the Harts of Lullingstone Castle in Kent and the Harts of Stratton in Gloucestershire. One notable member of the latter family was Sir John Hart (1572-1645), a Member of Parliament during the reign of King Charles I.

Another famous bearer of the Hart surname was John Hart (c. 1651-1711), a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence from New Jersey. In the 18th century, the Hart family also produced several notable figures, including Thomas Hart Benton (1782-1858), a renowned American painter and one of the foremost artists of the American West.

The Hart surname has also been associated with various place names in England, such as Hartfield in East Sussex, Hartley in Kent, and Hartford in Cheshire. These place names often derived from the Old English words "heorot" or "hort," meaning "stag" or "deer enclosure."

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Hart

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

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

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

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