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

Loose, 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 Loose surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Loose in America

Loose is the 12807th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Loose surname appeared 2,408 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 Loose.

We can also compare 2010 data for Loose 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 Loose

The surname Loose is of English origin, derived from the Old English word "los," meaning a meadow or pasture land. It is believed to have first emerged as a surname in the 13th century, referring to individuals who lived near or owned such meadowlands.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Oxfordshire from 1279, which mentions a William Lose. The name also appears in the Subsidy Rolls of Sussex from 1327, where it is spelled as "Lose."

In the 14th century, the name began to evolve into its modern spelling of "Loose." This variation can be found in the Patent Rolls of 1368, which refers to a John Loose from Essex.

During the medieval period, the name Loose was particularly prevalent in the counties of Sussex, Kent, and Essex, where many families with this surname were recorded in various tax and court records.

One notable bearer of the name was William Loose (c. 1505-1552), an English clergyman who served as the Archdeacon of Middlesex and was involved in the English Reformation under King Henry VIII.

Another historical figure with the surname Loose was Thomas Loose (1635-1718), an English Quaker minister and writer who travelled extensively throughout England and the American colonies, spreading the Quaker faith.

In the 17th century, the Loose surname also found its way to the Netherlands, where it is recorded as "Loos" or "Loosen." One prominent Dutch bearer of this name was Pieter Loos (1691-1733), a renowned landscape painter during the Dutch Golden Age.

Back in England, John Loose (1708-1787) was a notable surveyor and cartographer who produced several important maps of London and its surrounding areas.

Another significant figure with the Loose surname was Sir Robert Loose (1822-1899), a British civil engineer and railway pioneer who played a crucial role in the construction of several major railway lines in India and Sri Lanka during the 19th century.

While the name Loose has its roots in England, it has since spread to various parts of the world, including North America, Australia, and New Zealand, carried by migrants and descendants of English families bearing this surname.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Loose

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!