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

Horace, 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 Horace surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Horace in America

Horace is the 16437th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Horace surname appeared 1,750 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 Horace.

We can also compare 2010 data for Horace 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 Horace

The surname Horace is believed to have originated in ancient Rome, derived from the Latin name "Horatius." This name can be traced back to the Latin word "hōra," meaning "hour" or "season." It may have been initially given as a descriptive surname to someone born at a particular hour or season.

During the Roman era, the name Horatius was borne by several notable individuals, including the legendary Roman hero Horatius Cocles, who defended the Pons Sublicius (a bridge across the Tiber River) against the Etruscan army in the 6th century BC. Another famous bearer of this name was the Roman poet Quintus Horatius Flaccus, better known as Horace (65 BC - 8 BC), whose works greatly influenced Western literature.

The surname Horace made its way into various European languages, including English, French, and Italian, through the influence of Roman culture and the spread of Latin. In England, the earliest recorded instance of the surname Horace dates back to the 13th century, appearing in the Hundred Rolls of Huntingdonshire (1273) as "Horitz."

Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the surname Horace. One of the earliest was the French philosopher and writer Pierre Gassendi (1592-1655), known for his revival of Epicureanism and his influential work on the philosophy of science. Another prominent figure was the English philosopher and author James Horace Newton (1785-1844), known for his work on the philosophy of language and logic.

In the realm of literature, the name Horace is associated with the American poet and critic James Russell Lowell (1819-1891), who wrote under the pseudonym "Hosea Biglow." His satirical works, such as "The Biglow Papers," gained him widespread recognition. Another notable literary figure was the English writer and critic Sir Edmund Horace Currie (1875-1943), known for his works on literature and literary criticism.

Other notable bearers of the surname Horace include the British architect Sir Horace Jones (1819-1887), responsible for designing several iconic buildings in London, including Billingsgate Market and Tower Bridge; and the American composer and pianist William Horace Mallory (1834-1920), renowned for his compositions and performances in the late 19th century.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Horace

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

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

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