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

Hersey, 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 Hersey surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Hersey in America

Hersey is the 8689th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Hersey surname appeared 3,780 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 Hersey.

We can also compare 2010 data for Hersey 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 Hersey

The surname Hersey originated from the Old Norse personal name Hirsi, which comes from the word "hirs" meaning a stag or male deer. The name was introduced to Britain by the Norse settlers who arrived from Scandinavia during the 8th to 11th centuries.

This surname is thought to have first appeared in the Domesday Book of 1086, which was a record of landholders compiled by order of William the Conqueror. The Domesday Book recorded a few individuals with variations of the name, such as Hirsig and Hirsi.

One of the earliest recorded bearers of the surname Hersey was William Hersey, who was mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Worcestershire in 1195. The name was also found in various other medieval records, including the Hundred Rolls of 1273, which listed a Richard Hersey in Oxfordshire.

During the 13th and 14th centuries, the name was often spelled as Hyrsy, Hirsy, or Hersy. It was also associated with several place names, such as Hersey in Derbyshire, which was originally recorded as Hirsig in the Domesday Book.

Notable individuals with the surname Hersey include:

1. Sir Robert Hersey (c. 1390 - c. 1460), an English knight and landowner who served as a Member of Parliament for Derbyshire in 1436.

2. John Hersey (1914 - 1993), an American writer and journalist best known for his book "Hiroshima," which described the aftermath of the atomic bomb dropped on the city in 1945.

3. Edmund Hersey (1591 - 1670), an early settler in Massachusetts Bay Colony and one of the founders of Hingham, Massachusetts.

4. Milton Hersey (1868 - 1954), an American businessman who founded the Hershey Chocolate Company in 1894, which later became known as The Hershey Company.

5. John Hersey (1779 - 1855), an American politician who served as the 8th Governor of Maine from 1837 to 1841.

The surname Hersey has undergone various spelling variations over the centuries, including Hercy, Hursee, and Hursey, but it has retained its connection to its Old Norse roots and the image of the male deer or stag.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Hersey

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

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

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

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