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

Lamothe, 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 Lamothe surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Lamothe in America

Lamothe is the 9535th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Lamothe surname appeared 3,409 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 Lamothe.

We can also compare 2010 data for Lamothe 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 Lamothe

The surname LAMOTHE originated in France, likely during the medieval period. It is derived from the French words "la" meaning "the" and "mothe" meaning a small hill or mound. This suggests the name may have been given to someone who lived near a small hillock or mound.

In medieval France, surnames often derived from topographic features near where a person lived. The earliest recorded spelling variations include Lamothe, Lamotte, and De Lamothe. These variations suggest the name was established by the 12th or 13th century.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name is found in the 1292 tax rolls of Languedoc, where Arnaud de Lamothe is listed as a landowner. The name also appears in various charters and cartularies from the 13th to 15th centuries across southern France.

During the Renaissance, notable bearers of the name included Jean de Lamothe (1505-1573), a French Protestant theologian and reformer. Another was Antoine de Lamothe Cadillac (1658-1730), the founder of Detroit, Michigan and governor of French Louisiana.

In the 18th century, François de Lamothe (1725-1782) was a French naval officer who fought in the American Revolutionary War. Later, Jean-Baptiste de Lamothe (1769-1846) was a French general who served under Napoleon Bonaparte.

The 19th century saw Alphonse de Lamothe-Langon (1790-1869), a prolific French novelist and playwright. Meanwhile, in England, William de Lamothe (1834-1910) was a notable landscape painter from Yorkshire.

Throughout its history, the surname LAMOTHE has been associated with various places in France, including villages and communes named Lamothe in regions like Aquitaine, Midi-Pyrénées, and Limousin. The name's French origins and early recorded examples provide a rich tapestry of its historical significance.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Lamothe

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

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

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

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