Junius last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Junius

A surname derived from the ancient Roman family name Iunius.

Junius, 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 Junius surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Junius in America

Junius is the 54752nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Junius surname appeared 376 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 Junius.

We can also compare 2010 data for Junius 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 54752 52289 4.60%
Count 376 373 0.80%
Proportion per 100k 0.13 0.14 -7.41%

The history of the last name Junius

The surname JUNIUS originated in ancient Rome, deriving from the Latin word "junius" meaning "of June." It is believed to have initially referred to individuals born in the month of June or those associated with the Roman gens Junia, a prominent family during the Roman Republic.

JUNIUS first appeared in historical records as a Roman nomen, or family name, used by several notable figures such as Marcus Junius Brutus, the Roman senator and co-conspirator in the assassination of Julius Caesar. Another prominent bearer of the name was Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella, a renowned Roman writer on agriculture who lived during the 1st century AD.

As the Roman Empire expanded, the name JUNIUS spread across Europe, taking on various spellings and forms. In medieval England, it appeared as Junee or Junye, often associated with places named after the month of June, such as Juneville or Junetown.

One of the earliest recorded examples of the JUNIUS surname can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it is listed as "Junius" in Gloucestershire. This suggests that the name had already established itself in England by the late 11th century.

Notable individuals with the JUNIUS surname include:

  1. Franciscus Junius (1545-1602), a Dutch theologian and Biblical scholar who played a significant role in the Reformation.

  2. Adriaan Junius (1511-1575), a Dutch physician and botanist who authored one of the earliest works on plant classification.

  3. Hadrianus Junius (1512-1575), a Dutch historian and philologist known for his work on Germanic antiquities.

  4. Franciscus Junius Jr. (1589-1677), a Dutch philologist and librarian who made significant contributions to the study of Old English and Old Frisian languages.

  5. Robert Junius (1588-1668), a Scottish Protestant theologian and author who served as a minister in the Church of Scotland.

Over time, the JUNIUS surname spread to other parts of Europe and beyond, with variations in spelling and pronunciation arising in different regions. While its Roman origins are well-established, the name has evolved and taken on new meanings and associations throughout its long history.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Junius

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

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 Junius was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 31.65% 119
Non-Hispanic Black Only 65.43% 246
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.00% 0
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 1.60% 6
Hispanic Origin (S)% (S)

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 Junius has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 31.65% 33.78% -6.51%
Black 65.43% 62.73% 4.21%
Asian and Pacific Islander (S)% 1.34% (S)%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.00% (S)% (S)%
Two or More Races 1.60% (S)% (S)%
Hispanic (S)% (S)% (S)%

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

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

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"Junius last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on December 13, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/junius-surname-popularity/.

"Junius last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/junius-surname-popularity/. Accessed 13 December, 2024

Junius last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/junius-surname-popularity/.

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