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

Legg, 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 Legg surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Legg in America

Legg is the 3674th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Legg surname appeared 9,671 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 Legg.

We can also compare 2010 data for Legg 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 Legg

The surname Legg is of English origin, deriving from the Old English word 'legg' which means 'leg'. It was initially used as a nickname for someone with particularly thin legs or a physical deformity related to their legs.

This surname dates back to the 12th century in England, and one of the earliest recorded instances is found in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire from 1194, which mentions a person named Matilda Legg.

In the 13th century, the Hundred Rolls of Cambridgeshire (1273) recorded a John Legg, while the Subsidy Rolls of Sussex (1296) listed a William Legg.

The Domesday Book, a historical record compiled in 1086 for William the Conqueror, does not contain any direct references to the surname Legg. However, it does mention place names like Legg's Hill in Somerset and Legsby in Lincolnshire, which may have influenced the development of the surname.

Notable people with the surname Legg include:

• William Legg (1604-1672), an English clergyman and academic who served as Master of Caius College, Cambridge.
• John Legg (1675-1736), an English mathematician and astronomer, known for his work on calculating the orbit of comets.
• Sir George Legg (1786-1857), a British Member of Parliament and Chief Justice of Jamaica.
• Edward Legg (1834-1917), an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Kent County Cricket Club.
• Elise Legg (1885-1978), an Australian artist and illustrator, known for her depictions of Aboriginal people and Australian landscapes.

As the surname Legg spread across England and beyond, various spelling variations emerged, including Legge, Leggett, and Leggatt. These variations often reflected regional dialects and pronunciations, or were adopted by different branches of the same family.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Legg

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

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

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

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