Leffingwell last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Leffingwell

An Anglo-Saxon surname translating to "someone from the town of Leavening Well."

Leffingwell, 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 Leffingwell surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Leffingwell in America

Leffingwell is the 23866th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Leffingwell surname appeared 1,058 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Leffingwell.

We can also compare 2010 data for Leffingwell 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 23866 21832 8.90%
Count 1,058 1,110 -4.80%
Proportion per 100k 0.36 0.41 -12.99%

The history of the last name Leffingwell

The surname LEFFINGWELL has its origins in England, dating back to the 16th century. It is believed to have derived from the Old English words "lefing" meaning "descendant" and "well" referring to a water source or spring. This suggests that the name may have originally referred to someone who lived near a well or spring owned by a particular family or clan.

One of the earliest records of the LEFFINGWELL name can be found in the parish records of Croxall, Derbyshire, where a Thomas Leffingwell was recorded in 1594. The name also appears in the Subsidy Rolls of Staffordshire in 1605, listing a John Leffingwell as a taxpayer.

The LEFFINGWELL surname is closely associated with the town of Oundle in Northamptonshire, where a prominent family of that name resided for several generations. One notable member was Thomas Leffingwell (1622-1703), who emigrated to America in 1637 and became one of the founders of the town of Norwich, Connecticut.

Another early reference to the LEFFINGWELL name can be found in the Visitation of Hertfordshire in 1634, which mentions a family bearing arms with the Leffingwell surname. This suggests that the name had achieved a certain level of social status and recognition by that time.

In the 17th century, a Christopher Leffingwell (1621-1685) was a prominent merchant and landowner in London, and his son, Benjamin Leffingwell (1652-1723), became a respected clergyman and author.

During the 18th century, the LEFFINGWELL name continued to be associated with notable individuals, such as John Leffingwell (1720-1787), a merchant and politician in Connecticut, and Thomas Leffingwell (1750-1835), a soldier who fought in the American Revolutionary War.

As the surname spread across various regions of England and later to the American colonies, variations in spelling emerged, including Leffingwill, Leffingvill, and Leffingwel. However, the LEFFINGWELL spelling remained the most common throughout its history.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Leffingwell

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

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 Leffingwell was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 94.52% 1,000
Non-Hispanic Black Only (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 0.57% 6
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 1.42% 15
Hispanic Origin 3.12% 33

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 Leffingwell has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 94.52% 96.76% -2.34%
Black (S)% (S)% (S)%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.57% (S)% (S)%
American Indian and Alaskan Native (S)% (S)% (S)%
Two or More Races 1.42% 0.54% 89.80%
Hispanic 3.12% 1.89% 49.10%

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

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

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"Leffingwell last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on August 15, 2025. http://namecensus.com/last-names/leffingwell-surname-popularity/.

"Leffingwell last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/leffingwell-surname-popularity/. Accessed 15 August, 2025

Leffingwell last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/leffingwell-surname-popularity/.

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