Justice last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Justice

An occupational surname referring to a judge, magistrate, or other judicial official.

Justice, 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 Justice surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Justice in America

Justice is the 1077th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Justice surname appeared 32,480 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 11 people would have the surname Justice.

We can also compare 2010 data for Justice 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 1077 1032 4.27%
Count 32,480 30,956 4.80%
Proportion per 100k 11.01 11.48 -4.18%

The history of the last name Justice

The surname Justice originated in England and France during the medieval period. It is an occupational name derived from the Old French word "justise," which means "justice" or "judge." The name was likely given to someone who worked in the legal system or held a position of authority, such as a judge or a magistrate.

In England, the name Justice can be traced back to the 13th century. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name is found in the Hundred Rolls of 1273, which mentions a Roger le Justise. This document was a survey of landholdings and tenants in England, conducted during the reign of King Edward I.

The name Justice also appears in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landholdings in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The Domesday Book records several individuals with the surname Justicia or Justiciarius, which are variants of the name Justice.

During the Middle Ages, the name Justice was particularly prevalent in the counties of Warwickshire, Gloucestershire, and Oxfordshire in England. It was also found in various parts of France, where it was often spelled as "Justis" or "Juste."

One notable individual with the surname Justice was Sir William Justice (c. 1539-1614), an English judge and legal scholar who served as Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

Another prominent figure was Roger Justice (c. 1600-1670), an English politician and lawyer who served as a Member of Parliament and was appointed as a judge during the English Civil War.

In the 18th century, there was John Justice (1701-1763), an English architect and surveyor who designed several notable buildings in London, including the Radcliffe Camera at the University of Oxford.

Another notable individual was Sir Philip Justice (1786-1856), a British naval officer who served in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars and later became a Member of Parliament.

In the United States, one of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Justice was John Justice (c. 1670-1725), an English Quaker who emigrated to Pennsylvania in the late 17th century and became a prominent landowner and businessman in the colony.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Justice

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

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 Justice was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 85.55% 27,787
Non-Hispanic Black Only 9.42% 3,060
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 0.46% 149
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.70% 227
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 2.10% 682
Hispanic Origin 1.77% 575

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

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 85.55% 87.72% -2.50%
Black 9.42% 8.87% 6.01%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.46% 0.33% 32.91%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.70% 0.68% 2.90%
Two or More Races 2.10% 1.41% 39.32%
Hispanic 1.77% 0.99% 56.52%

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

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

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"Justice last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on December 2, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/justice-surname-popularity/.

"Justice last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/justice-surname-popularity/. Accessed 2 December, 2024

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

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