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

Joss, 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 Joss surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Joss in America

Joss is the 32632nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Joss surname appeared 704 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 Joss.

We can also compare 2010 data for Joss 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 Joss

The surname Joss has its origins in the medieval Scottish Borders region. It derives from an old Scots nickname for a popular medieval pet form of the personal name Joseph. The earliest recorded example comes from the 13th century Ragman Rolls of 1296, which record a John Josse swearing fealty to King Edward I of England.

An early spelling variant Jossop is found in records from Perthshire, Scotland in the 15th century. By the 16th century, the surname was well-established in England's West Midlands county of Staffordshire, with church registers showing a John Joss baptized in 1577 in Rowley Regis. Around this time, the name was sometimes Anglicized to Josse.

One notable bearer was John Joss (c.1562-1624), an English Puritan minister and writer who served as rector of Eastwell in Kent. Another early example is William Joss (1602-1683), an English Presbyterian minister ejected from his living in Hartlebury, Worcestershire after the Restoration for non-conformity.

In the 18th century, the surname spread into northern England. Records show John Joss (1718-1797), born in Alnwick, Northumberland, was a weaver by trade. Moving into the 19th century, we find Margaret Joss (1781-1846) of Banffshire, Scotland, who is listed in local censuses as a farmer.

The Victorian era had its share of Josses too, such as the mathematician Ralph Anstruther Joss (1828-1890), who taught at Cheltenham College and authored mathematical textbooks. Another was William Joss (1852-1927), a Scottish football player and manager who played for Rangers F.C. in the 1870s and later managed several clubs.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Joss

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

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

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

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