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

Lax, 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 Lax surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Lax in America

Lax is the 12766th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Lax surname appeared 2,417 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 Lax.

We can also compare 2010 data for Lax 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 Lax

The surname LAX originated in England during the medieval period. It is believed to have derived from the Old English word "laex," which means "salmon." This suggests that the name may have initially been given to someone who lived near a river or stream where salmon were abundant.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name LAX can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which was a comprehensive survey of land ownership in England commissioned by William the Conqueror. The name appears as "Lax" in this historical document.

During the 13th century, the name LAX was associated with various places in England, such as Lax Field in Gloucestershire and Lax Hill in Warwickshire. These place names likely influenced the spelling and pronunciation of the surname over time.

Notable individuals with the surname LAX throughout history include:

1. John Lax (c. 1470-1530), an English priest and scholar who served as the Dean of Salisbury Cathedral in the early 16th century.

2. Tobias Lax (1585-1658), a English-born settler who was one of the first Puritans to arrive in New England in the 1630s.

3. William Lax (1761-1836), a British military officer who served in the American Revolutionary War and later became a renowned artist and landscape painter.

4. Lilla Cabot Lax (1848-1924), an American artist and illustrator known for her portraiture and landscape paintings.

5. Peter Lax (1926-2023), a Hungarian-American mathematician who made significant contributions to the field of partial differential equations and won prestigious awards such as the Wolf Prize and the Abel Prize.

As the surname LAX spread across England and eventually to other parts of the world, variations in spelling emerged, including Laxe, Laxson, and Laxley. These variations often reflected regional dialects and local pronunciation patterns.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Lax

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

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

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

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