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

Lanham, 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 Lanham surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Lanham in America

Lanham is the 3513th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Lanham surname appeared 10,170 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 3 people would have the surname Lanham.

We can also compare 2010 data for Lanham 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 Lanham

The surname Lanham has its origins in England and can be traced back to the 12th century. It is believed to have derived from the Old English words "lan" meaning "lane" and "ham" meaning "homestead" or "village". The name likely referred to someone who lived near a lane or a settlement located along a lane.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lanham can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Northamptonshire from 1195, where it is spelled as "Laneham". The Pipe Rolls were administrative records maintained by the English Exchequer during the reign of King Richard I.

The Lanham surname is also mentioned in the Hundred Rolls, a census-like survey conducted in England between 1274 and 1279. The Hundred Rolls contain references to individuals with the surname Lanham in various counties, including Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, and Cambridgeshire.

In the 14th century, the surname appeared in the form "Lanhame" in the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire from 1327. The Subsidy Rolls were tax records used to collect subsidies from the population for military campaigns.

One notable historical figure with the surname Lanham was Sir John Lanham, a 15th-century English landowner and Member of Parliament for Oxfordshire. He lived from around 1410 to 1474 and served as Sheriff of Oxfordshire and Berkshire in 1451.

Another prominent individual was William Lanham, an English clergyman who lived in the 16th century. He was appointed as the Canon of Windsor in 1553 and held various other ecclesiastical positions during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

In the 17th century, Sampson Lanham, born in 1593, was an English puritan minister and theologian. He served as the rector of St. Edmund's Church in Lombard Street, London, and was known for his sermons and religious writings.

The surname Lanham also has associations with place names in England. For example, the village of Lanham in Nottinghamshire was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Laneham". Similarly, the hamlet of Lanham in Suffolk was mentioned in the Domesday Book under the name "Laneham".

Throughout history, the surname Lanham has undergone various spelling variations, such as Laneham, Lanehame, Lanhame, and Lanaham, reflecting regional dialects and changes in spelling conventions over time.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Lanham

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

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

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

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