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

Lydon, 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 Lydon surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Lydon in America

Lydon is the 8103rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Lydon surname appeared 4,091 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 Lydon.

We can also compare 2010 data for Lydon 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 Lydon

The surname Lydon is of Irish origin, derived from the Gaelic name Ó Lideadha, which means "descendant of Lideadh." The name Lideadh itself is thought to be a diminutive of the word "lí," meaning "color" or "complexion," suggesting that the name may have originally referred to someone with a particular complexion or coloring.

The earliest recorded instances of the name date back to the 11th century in County Sligo, Ireland, where the Ó Lideadha clan was based. One of the first documented references to the name appears in the Annals of the Four Masters, a chronicle of Irish history written in the 17th century, which mentions a chieftain named Domhnall Ó Lideadha who lived in the 12th century.

In the 16th century, the Anglicized spelling "Lydon" began to emerge, as the Gaelic patronymic prefix "Ó" was often dropped or replaced with the English equivalent "O'" during this period. The Lydons were a prominent family in County Sligo and played a significant role in the region's history, with several members holding important positions and participating in various conflicts throughout the centuries.

One notable figure from the Lydon family was John Lydon, born in 1556, who was a prominent Irish lawyer and judge during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Another prominent Lydon was Patrick Lydon, born in 1781, who was a renowned Irish scholar and historian, best known for his work on the ancient Irish language and literature.

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, many Irish families, including the Lydons, emigrated to other parts of the world, particularly the United States and Canada, due to factors such as the Great Famine and political turmoil. This diaspora helped to spread the Lydon surname across different continents.

Other notable individuals with the surname Lydon include John Lydon, born in 1956, better known as Johnny Rotten, the iconic frontman of the pioneering punk rock band the Sex Pistols. Additionally, there was Rosemary Lydon, born in 1908, an Australian artist and sculptor who made significant contributions to the Australian art scene in the mid-20th century.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Lydon

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

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

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

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