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

Jarvis, 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 Jarvis surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Jarvis in America

Jarvis is the 985th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Jarvis surname appeared 35,350 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 12 people would have the surname Jarvis.

We can also compare 2010 data for Jarvis 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 Jarvis

The surname Jarvis has its origins in medieval England, and is derived from the Old French personal name "Gervais", which itself comes from the Latin "Gervasus". The name ultimately derives from the Germanic elements "ger" meaning "spear" and "vasu" meaning "brave", suggesting it was likely a warrior name bestowed upon brave spearmen.

The earliest known recorded instances of the surname Jarvis date back to the late 12th century in Norfolk, England. The Pipe Rolls of Norfolk from 1186 mention a Gervasius de Freeney, believed to be one of the earliest bearers of the name. Other early spellings include Gervays, Gerveys, and Jarveys. The surname appears to have been particularly prominent in East Anglia and the Midlands regions of England during the medieval period.

In the renowned Domesday Book of 1086, which was a comprehensive survey of land ownership and taxation in much of England and parts of Wales, there are several references to people with similar names such as Gervasius and Gervase, which are considered precursors to the modern surname Jarvis.

One of the earliest recorded individuals with the surname Jarvis was Sir Thomas Jarvis, a wealthy English landowner and Member of Parliament who lived in the late 14th century. Another notable early bearer of the name was John Jarvis, a 15th-century English merchant and alderman from the city of Norwich.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Jarvis surname continued to flourish in various parts of England. Thomas Jarvis (c. 1570-1636) was a renowned English poet and translator, while Edward Jarvis (1600-1654) was an English soldier who fought in the English Civil War.

In the 18th century, Francis Jarvis (1742-1809) was a prominent English landowner and politician who served as Member of Parliament for several constituencies. The 19th century saw the emergence of several notable individuals with the surname, including Charles Jarvis (1803-1892), an English-born Australian politician and landowner, and Edmund Jarvis (1850-1922), an English cricketer who played for Middlesex and Cambridge University.

The Jarvis surname has also been associated with various place names in England, such as Jarvis Brook in East Sussex and Jarvis Hill in Staffordshire, which likely derived their names from early bearers of the surname who resided in or owned land in those areas.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Jarvis

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

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

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

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