Mansfield last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Mansfield

An English locational surname derived from places meaning "open land where crops are grown" in Old English.

Mansfield, 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 Mansfield surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Mansfield in America

Mansfield is the 1923rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Mansfield surname appeared 18,725 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 6 people would have the surname Mansfield.

We can also compare 2010 data for Mansfield 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 1923 1780 7.72%
Count 18,725 18,498 1.22%
Proportion per 100k 6.35 6.86 -7.72%

The history of the last name Mansfield

The surname MANSFIELD has its origins in England and traces back to the early medieval period. It is a locational name derived from the place name "Mansfield" in Nottinghamshire, which itself comes from the Old English words "mann" meaning a man or servant, and "feld" meaning an open field or clearing. The earliest recorded spelling of the place name was "Mamesfeld" in the Domesday Book of 1086.

The name MANSFIELD first appeared in records and historical documents around the 12th century, with one of the earliest known bearers being Robert de Mannesfeld, who was listed in the Pipe Rolls of Northamptonshire in 1176. In the 13th century, the name was also recorded as Maunsfeld, Manesfeld, and Maunnesfeld.

A notable early bearer of the name was Sir John Mansfield, who served as Lord Chief Justice of England from 1376 to 1387 during the reign of King Richard II. Another prominent figure was Sir Robert Mansfield, who was knighted in 1603 and served as Lord Mayor of London in 1616-1617.

In the 17th century, the name was also associated with the Mansfield family of Scone Palace in Scotland. One of the most famous members of this family was William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield (1705-1793), who served as Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench from 1756 to 1788 and was a prominent legal scholar and politician.

Other notable individuals with the surname MANSFIELD include the English writer Katherine Mansfield (1888-1923), known for her modernist short stories, and the American actors Jayne Mansfield (1933-1967) and Michael Mansfield (born 1950).

The name MANSFIELD has also been used as a place name in various parts of the world, particularly in the United States and Canada, reflecting the influence of English settlers and the spread of the name through migration.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Mansfield

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

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 Mansfield was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 86.84% 16,261
Non-Hispanic Black Only 7.12% 1,333
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 0.61% 114
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.68% 127
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 1.91% 358
Hispanic Origin 2.85% 534

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

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 86.84% 89.17% -2.65%
Black 7.12% 6.48% 9.41%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.61% 0.46% 28.04%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.68% 0.71% -4.32%
Two or More Races 1.91% 1.51% 23.39%
Hispanic 2.85% 1.68% 51.66%

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

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

Reference this page

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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!

"Mansfield last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on October 12, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/mansfield-surname-popularity/.

"Mansfield last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/mansfield-surname-popularity/. Accessed 12 October, 2024

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

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