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

Ketcham, 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 Ketcham surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Ketcham in America

Ketcham is the 8042nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Ketcham surname appeared 4,115 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Ketcham.

We can also compare 2010 data for Ketcham 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 Ketcham

The surname Ketcham is an English toponymic surname derived from the place name Kecham, which is believed to have originated from the Old English words "cece" meaning oak and "ham" meaning homestead or village. This suggests that the original bearers of the name likely resided near an oak tree or an oak-wooded area.

The earliest known record of the surname Ketcham dates back to the late 12th century in Kent, England. In the Domesday Book, a survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086, the name is spelled as "Keceham," indicating its ancient roots.

One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Ketcham was John Ketcham, who was born in Maidstone, Kent, in the early 13th century. He is mentioned in the Kent Pipe Rolls of 1233 as a landowner in the village of Kecham.

Another notable bearer of the name was Sir William Ketcham, a knight who fought alongside King Edward III during the Hundred Years' War. He was born in 1320 in Sittingbourne, Kent, and died in 1389.

In the 16th century, the Ketcham family had established a presence in the county of Essex, where they were known for their involvement in the wool trade. Richard Ketcham, born in 1542 in Coggeshall, Essex, was a prominent wool merchant who exported goods to the Netherlands and Germany.

The name Ketcham also found its way to the American colonies in the 17th century. One of the earliest recorded immigrants with this surname was Edward Ketcham, who arrived in Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1635 from Tenterden, Kent.

In the late 18th century, John Ketcham, born in 1765 in New York, served as a lieutenant in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, fighting in several major battles against the British forces.

Over the centuries, the surname Ketcham has undergone various spelling variations, including Kecham, Ketchum, Ketcam, and Ketchum, reflecting the evolution of language and regional dialects. Despite these variations, the name's roots can be traced back to its origins in the oak-wooded areas of Kent, England.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Ketcham

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

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

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

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