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

Holiness, 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 Holiness surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Holiness in America

Holiness is the 129047th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Holiness surname appeared 132 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 Holiness.

We can also compare 2010 data for Holiness 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 Holiness

The surname HOLINESS is an English name derived from the Old English words "hālig" meaning "holy" and "ness" meaning "headland" or "promontory". It likely originated in the medieval period, around the 12th or 13th century, in areas of England where there were significant religious settlements or monasteries situated on elevated ground or coastal headlands.

One of the earliest recorded instances of this surname can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire from 1191, which mention a person named Willelmus de Holinesse. This suggests the name may have originated in the southwest of England, possibly in connection with a holy site or monastic community situated on a promontory or elevated ground in that region.

Another early reference to the name appears in the Feet of Fines for Essex in 1310, which records a transaction involving a person named John Holynes. This spelling variation, which more closely resembles the modern form of the name, indicates the name was also present in the southeast of England during the medieval period.

In the 14th century, the name appears in records from Yorkshire, such as the Yorkshire Poll Tax of 1379, which lists a person named Johannes Holynesse. This suggests the name had spread to the northern parts of England by this time.

One notable historical figure with this surname was Sir Roger Holiness (c. 1470-1535), a English landowner and Member of Parliament who served under King Henry VIII. Another was William Holiness (c. 1550-1620), a prominent Puritan clergyman and one of the translators of the King James Bible.

Other early examples of individuals with this surname include John Holiness (c. 1580-1642), an English colonist who settled in Virginia, and Nathaniel Holiness (1628-1698), a Puritan minister and author in Massachusetts. In the 17th century, the name also appears in records from Cornwall, such as the baptism of Mary Holiness in 1662 in the parish of St. Erth.

While the surname HOLINESS is not extremely common, it has a long and interesting history, with roots stretching back to the medieval period and a connection to both religious sites and elevated or coastal locations in various parts of England.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Holiness

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

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

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

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