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

Irvin, 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 Irvin surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Irvin in America

Irvin is the 1695th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Irvin surname appeared 21,263 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 7 people would have the surname Irvin.

We can also compare 2010 data for Irvin 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 Irvin

The surname Irvin has its origins in the ancient Anglo-Saxon territories of Britain. It is derived from the Old English personal name "Irvine", which was composed of the elements "yr" meaning "green" and "wine" meaning "friend". This name likely originated in the southwestern region of England during the 7th or 8th century.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name appears in the Domesday Book of 1086, where an individual named "Iruine" is listed as a landowner in Somerset. This suggests that the name had become established in the region by the late 11th century. Over time, various spellings emerged, such as Irvin, Irvine, and Irwin.

In the 13th century, the name is found in records from the county of Ayrshire in Scotland, suggesting that it had spread northward from its English origins. One notable bearer was Sir William de Irvine, who was granted lands in Ayrshire by King Robert the Bruce in the early 14th century.

The surname also has a strong association with the town of Irvine in Ayrshire, which likely took its name from a local landholder in the 12th century. Over the centuries, several prominent individuals have borne the name Irvin or its variants, including James Irvine (1540-1612), a Scottish Protestant reformer and scholar, and Christopher Irvin (1728-1786), an American Revolutionary War officer and landowner in Pennsylvania.

Another notable figure was William Irvine (1741-1804), an Irish-born American soldier and politician who served as a Brigadier General in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Additionally, Robert Irvin (1920-1995), an American mathematician and computer scientist, made significant contributions to the field of numerical analysis and computer programming.

In the 19th century, the name Irvin gained recognition through the work of Emily Jane Irvin Tuttle (1835-1899), an American writer and poet who published under the pseudonym "Nora Perry". Her literary works often explored themes of nature and rural life in the American Midwest.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Irvin

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

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

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

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