2000
#12,868
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,192
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.81
Rare Last name
Lawing
Derived from the Old English given name Leofwine, meaning "dear friend" or "beloved friend."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,218 Americans carry the last name Lawing. That puts it at #14,740 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.65 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 154,533 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Lawing surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
2.2K
1 in 154,533
Census rank
#14,740
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.9K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,934 bearers of the surname Lawing in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.65 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 14740th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Lawing, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.7%. The next largest groups are Black (4.9%) and Two or More Races (2.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Lawing
The surname Lawing is thought to have originated in the Scottish Lowlands in the late 13th century. It is believed to be a variant of the more common Scottish surname Laing, derived from the Old English word "lang" meaning "long" or "tall."
The earliest known record of the Lawing name appears in the Ragman Rolls of 1296, a historical document recording the swearing of fealty to King Edward I of England by Scottish nobility and gentry. This suggests that the name was already established in Scotland by the late 13th century.
In the 16th century, the Lawing surname is found in various records from the Scottish Borders region, particularly around the town of Jedburgh. One notable early bearer of the name was John Lawing, who was recorded as a landowner in Jedburgh in 1523.
The Lawing name is also associated with the parish of Lawers in Perthshire, Scotland. It is possible that some bearers of the name may have derived their surname from this place name, which itself likely originated from a Gaelic term meaning "hillside" or "slope."
Among notable historical figures with the Lawing surname, there is James Lawing, a Scottish soldier who fought in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms during the 17th century. He was born in Jedburgh in 1611 and served in the Royalist army during the English Civil War.
Another significant bearer of the Lawing name was Robert Lawing, a Scottish minister and theologian born in Perthshire in 1685. He served as the minister of the parish of Abernethy from 1715 until his death in 1758.
In the 18th century, the Lawing surname also appears in records from the Scottish Highlands, particularly in the region of Argyll. One notable individual was Donald Lawing, a Highland chieftain born in 1734, who played a role in the Jacobite risings of the mid-18th century.
The Lawing name has also been found in historical records from other parts of the British Isles, including England and Ireland, likely due to migration and intermarriage over the centuries. However, its origins and earliest known bearers can be traced back to Scotland in the late medieval period.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lawing
Among Census respondents with the surname Lawing, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.7%. The next largest groups are Black (4.9%) and Two or More Races (2.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Lawing bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Lawing surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.7% · 1,735
- Black or African American4.9% · 94
- Two or more races2.8% · 54
- Hispanic or Latino1.9% · 36
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Lawing
Lawing appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#13,525
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,243
+51 bearers (+2.3%)
Per 100,000 0.76
Rank movement Down 657 places
2020
#14,740
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,934
-309 bearers (-13.8%)
Per 100,000 0.65
Rank movement Down 1,215 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #12,868 | 2,192 | 0.81 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #13,525 | 2,243 | 0.76 | +51 bearers (+2.3%) | Down 657 places |
| 2020 | #14,740 | 1,934 | 0.65 | -309 bearers (-13.8%) | Down 1,215 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Lawing surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #13,525 | #14,740 | -9.0% |
| Count | 2,243 | 1,934 | -13.8% |
| Per 100K | 0.76 | 0.65 | -14.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Lawing bearers went from 2,243 to 1,934 (-13.8% change). The surname moved down 1,215 positions in the national ranking, going from #13,525 to #14,740.
FAQ
Lawing surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Lawing?
Name Census estimates that about 2,218 living Americans carry the surname Lawing. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 154,533 residents.
How common is Lawing?
Lawing ranks #14,740 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.65 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 1,934 people with the surname Lawing. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,218), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.65 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.65 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Lawing.
Has Lawing become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Lawing went from 2,243 recorded bearers to 1,934. That is a decrease of 309 (-13.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #13,525 to #14,740.
What does the Census say about the background of Lawing?
Among Census respondents with the surname Lawing, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.7%. The next largest groups are Black (4.9%) and Two or More Races (2.8%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Lawing in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.7% (1,735 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Lawing appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (89.7%), Black (4.9%), Two or More Races (2.8%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Lawing (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Lawing mean?
Derived from the Old English given name Leofwine, meaning "dear friend" or "beloved friend." The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Lawing (0.65 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the surname Lawing?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.