Herrin last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Herrin

An English occupational surname referring to someone who worked as a herdsman or tender of animals.

Herrin, 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 Herrin surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Herrin in America

Herrin is the 4576th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Herrin surname appeared 7,755 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 3 people would have the surname Herrin.

We can also compare 2010 data for Herrin 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 4576 4284 6.59%
Count 7,755 7,667 1.14%
Proportion per 100k 2.63 2.84 -7.68%

The history of the last name Herrin

The surname HERRIN is of English origin, derived from the Old English words "hering" or "hæring," meaning "a follower" or "an adherent." This surname likely originated in the 13th century and was initially given as a descriptive name to someone who followed a particular leader, religious figure, or patron.

The earliest recorded instance of the name HERRIN can be traced back to the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273, where it appears as "Heringe." This document was a census-like record of landholders in England at the time. The name was also found in various medieval records, such as the Pipe Rolls of 1195, where it was spelled "Hering."

In the 14th century, the surname HERRIN appeared in the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire, England, in the form of "Heryng." This suggests that the name was present in the Worcestershire region during that period.

One notable bearer of the HERRIN surname was John Herring (c. 1480-1554), an English politician and Member of Parliament for Gloucestershire during the reign of Henry VIII. Another prominent figure was Thomas Herring (1693-1757), an English clergyman who served as the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1747 until his death.

The surname HERRIN has also been associated with various place names in England, such as Herringfleet in Suffolk and Herrington in Durham. These place names likely derived from the Old English word "hering," meaning "a follower" or "adherent," further reinforcing the connection between the surname and its original meaning.

Other notable individuals with the HERRIN surname include:

  1. Robert Herring (1824-1906), an English architect known for designing several buildings in London.
  2. Hubert Herring (1863-1950), a British politician and Member of Parliament for Loughborough from 1906 to 1918.
  3. Mildred Herring (1893-1975), an American author and journalist who wrote extensively about social issues and women's rights.
  4. Jeanette Herring (1910-1992), a British Olympic swimmer who competed in the 1928 and 1932 Summer Olympics.
  5. George Herring (1936-2022), an American historian and professor who specialized in the study of U.S. foreign relations.

Over the centuries, the HERRIN surname has been subject to various spellings, including Hering, Heringe, Heryng, and Herring, reflecting the evolution of language and regional variations in pronunciation and spelling conventions.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Herrin

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

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 Herrin was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 89.88% 6,970
Non-Hispanic Black Only 5.96% 462
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 0.62% 48
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.74% 57
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 1.24% 96
Hispanic Origin 1.57% 122

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 Herrin has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 89.88% 91.39% -1.67%
Black 5.96% 5.06% 16.33%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.62% 0.47% 27.52%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.74% 0.55% 29.46%
Two or More Races 1.24% 1.54% -21.58%
Hispanic 1.57% 0.99% 45.31%

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

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

Reference this page

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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!

"Herrin last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on December 2, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/herrin-surname-popularity/.

"Herrin last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/herrin-surname-popularity/. Accessed 2 December, 2024

Herrin last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/herrin-surname-popularity/.

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