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

Hearing, 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 Hearing surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Hearing in America

Hearing is the 54296th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Hearing surname appeared 380 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 Hearing.

We can also compare 2010 data for Hearing 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 Hearing

The surname "HEARING" is of English origin, derived from the Old English word "hering" or "hering," which refers to a person who fishes for or deals in herring. The name likely originated in coastal regions of England where fishing for herring was a common occupation.

One of the earliest recorded references to the surname can be found in the Hundred Rolls of 1273, which lists a Robert Hering from Oxfordshire. The Subsidy Rolls of 1327 also mention a John Heryng from Somerset.

In the 14th century, the name appeared in various forms, such as Heryng, Hering, and Herynge, reflecting the variations in spelling during that period. The Hearken variant of the name is thought to have originated in the county of Norfolk.

The Domesday Book, a valuable record of landowners and tenants in England compiled in 1086, does not contain any direct references to the surname Hearing. However, it does mention several place names that may have influenced the development of the name, such as Hering in Lincolnshire and Heringham in Northamptonshire.

Notable individuals with the surname Hearing throughout history include:

1. John Hearing (c. 1540 - 1610), an English clergyman and academic who served as the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge in 1598.
2. Thomas Hearing (1621 - 1695), an English Puritan minister and author who wrote several religious works, including "The Reformation of Manners" (1671).
3. William Hearing (1769 - 1830), a British naval officer who served during the Napoleonic Wars and was awarded the Naval General Service Medal for his service.
4. Mary Hearing (1837 - 1920), an American educator and advocate for women's rights, who co-founded the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia.
5. Joseph Hearing (1878 - 1946), a British architect known for his work on residential and commercial buildings in London during the early 20th century.

While the surname Hearing has its roots in coastal fishing communities of medieval England, it has since spread to various parts of the world, reflecting the migration patterns of English settlers and the evolving nature of surnames over time.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Hearing

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

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

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Hearing, 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!