Lemons last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Lemons

An English surname derived from the Old English word "hlehmann," meaning a person who lived near a lemon tree.

Lemons, 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 Lemons surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Lemons in America

Lemons is the 2910th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Lemons surname appeared 12,322 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 4 people would have the surname Lemons.

We can also compare 2010 data for Lemons 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 2910 2756 5.44%
Count 12,322 12,013 2.54%
Proportion per 100k 4.18 4.45 -6.26%

The history of the last name Lemons

The surname Lemons is believed to have originated in England, dating back to the 13th century. It is thought to be a locational name derived from the Old English words "lemon" and "dun," meaning a lemon-colored hill or a hill covered with lemon trees. The earliest recorded spelling of the name is found in the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire in 1273, where it appears as "Lemundun."

During the Middle Ages, the name was relatively uncommon, but it can be traced to various regions of England, particularly the counties of Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, and Somerset. In the Domesday Book of 1086, there are references to places with similar names, such as "Lemon" in Gloucestershire and "Lemonville" in Somerset, which may have influenced the development of the surname.

One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Sir John Lemons, a knight who fought in the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 during the Hundred Years' War. Another notable figure was William Lemons, a wealthy merchant from Bristol who lived in the late 16th century and was involved in the overseas trade with the West Indies.

In the 17th century, the name appears in various parish records and legal documents. For instance, the birth of Thomas Lemons was recorded in the parish of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, in 1624. Meanwhile, in 1692, a certain Elizabeth Lemons was mentioned in a land deed in the village of Lechlade, Gloucestershire.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, the Lemons family spread across different parts of England, with some members emigrating to other parts of the British Empire, including North America and Australia. One prominent individual from this period was Sir Charles Lemons (1790-1868), a British naval officer who served in the Napoleonic Wars and later became an influential politician.

Other notable bearers of the surname Lemons include the English poet and playwright John Lemons (1820-1892), known for his romantic works, and the American inventor and industrialist George Lemons (1855-1932), who pioneered various innovations in the field of agricultural machinery.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Lemons

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

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 Lemons was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 71.32% 8,788
Non-Hispanic Black Only 22.90% 2,822
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 0.27% 33
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.70% 86
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 1.68% 207
Hispanic Origin 3.13% 386

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

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 71.32% 74.04% -3.74%
Black 22.90% 20.72% 10.00%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.27% 0.29% -7.14%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.70% 0.77% -9.52%
Two or More Races 1.68% 1.83% -8.55%
Hispanic 3.13% 2.35% 28.47%

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

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

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"Lemons last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on July 27, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/lemons-surname-popularity/.

"Lemons last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/lemons-surname-popularity/. Accessed 27 July, 2024

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

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