2000
#53,420
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 363
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.13
Very Rare Last name
Horry
A topographic name for someone living near an area of pollarded trees.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 491 Americans carry the last name Horry. That puts it at #52,367 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.14 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 698,074 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Horry surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Horry with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
491
1 in 698,074
Census rank
#52,367
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.1
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
428
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 428 bearers of the surname Horry in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.14 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 52367th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Horry, the largest self-reported group is Black at 57.2%. The next largest groups are White (36.0%) and Two or More Races (3.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Horry
The surname Horry originated in the county of Lancashire, England during the late medieval period. It is derived from the Old English word "hore", meaning mud or dirt, combined with the suffix "-y" denoting a place name. This suggests the name may have initially referred to someone who lived near a muddy area or marsh.
One of the earliest recorded references to the Horry name can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Lancashire from 1246, where a Adam de Hori is mentioned. The Lay Subsidy Rolls of 1332 also list a Richard de Hory residing in the township of Osbaldeston in Lancashire.
By the 16th century, various spellings of the name began to emerge, including Hory, Horie, and Horrie. In 1586, the Lancashire Church records mention the baptism of a James Horie in Whalley parish. The Horry spelling itself first appears in the Bury parish registers from 1614 with the marriage of John Horry and Elizabeth Haworth.
A notable early bearer of the Horry name was Thomas Horry, born around 1593 in Lancashire. He was a Puritan clergyman who emigrated to Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1635 and served as the minister of Charlestown until his death in 1649.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, several Horry families were recorded as landowners and yeomen farmers in the Lancashire parishes of Bury, Whalley, and Blackburn. One prominent figure was Peter Horry, born in 1743, who was a cavalry officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and served under General Francis Marion, earning the nickname "Marion's Horry".
Other individuals of note include Joseph Horry (1773-1834), an English painter and engraver, and Christopher Horry (1778-1830), a British army officer who served in the Napoleonic Wars and later became Governor of Gibraltar from 1828 until his death.
In the 19th century, the Horry surname spread beyond Lancashire as families migrated to other parts of England and abroad to countries like the United States, Canada, and Australia. However, the name remained relatively uncommon compared to many other English surnames.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Horry
Among Census respondents with the surname Horry, the largest self-reported group is Black at 57.2%. The next largest groups are White (36.0%) and Two or More Races (3.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Horry bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Horry surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American57.2% · 245
- White36.0% · 154
- Two or more races3.7% · 16
- Hispanic or Latino2.6% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Horry
Horry appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#53,538
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 386
+23 bearers (+6.3%)
Per 100,000 0.13
Rank movement Down 118 places
2020
#52,367
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 428
+42 bearers (+10.9%)
Per 100,000 0.14
Rank movement Up 1,171 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #53,420 | 363 | 0.13 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #53,538 | 386 | 0.13 | +23 bearers (+6.3%) | Down 118 places |
| 2020 | #52,367 | 428 | 0.14 | +42 bearers (+10.9%) | Up 1,171 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Horry surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #53,538 | #52,367 | 2.2% |
| Count | 386 | 428 | 10.9% |
| Per 100K | 0.13 | 0.14 | 10.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Horry bearers went from 386 to 428 (+10.9% change). The surname moved up 1,171 positions in the national ranking, going from #53,538 to #52,367.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Horry
FAQ
Horry surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Horry?
Name Census estimates that about 491 living Americans carry the surname Horry. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 698,074 residents.
How common is Horry?
Horry ranks #52,367 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.14 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 428 people with the surname Horry. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (491), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.14 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.14 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Horry.
Has Horry become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Horry went from 386 recorded bearers to 428. That is an increase of 42 (+10.9%). In the national ranking it rose from #53,538 to #52,367.
What does the Census say about the background of Horry?
Among Census respondents with the surname Horry, the largest self-reported group is Black at 57.2%. The next largest groups are White (36.0%) and Two or More Races (3.7%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
Black is the largest self-reported group for the surname Horry in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.2% (245 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Horry appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Black (57.2%), White (36.0%), Two or More Races (3.7%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Horry (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Horry mean?
A topographic name for someone living near an area of pollarded trees. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Horry (0.14 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many Americans have the surname Horry?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.