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

Meares, 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 Meares surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Meares in America

Meares is the 19189th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Meares surname appeared 1,415 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Meares.

We can also compare 2010 data for Meares 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 Meares

The surname Meares is of English origin, derived from the Old English word "mere," meaning a boundary or border. It is believed that the name initially referred to someone who lived near a boundary or border area.

The earliest recorded instances of the Meares surname date back to the 13th century, with a mention of a Robert de la Mere in the Hundredorum Rolls of Yorkshire in 1273. The "de la" prefix indicates that the name was initially a locational surname, referring to a specific place.

During the medieval period, the surname appeared in various spellings, including Mere, Meres, and Meyre, reflecting the regional variations in pronunciation and spelling conventions of the time. One notable early bearer of the name was Sir John de la Mere, a 14th-century English landowner and Member of Parliament for Lincolnshire.

The Meares surname is also associated with several place names in England, such as Mears Ashby in Northamptonshire and Mears Beck in Yorkshire. These place names likely derived from the Old English words "mere" and "bæc," meaning a stream or brook near a boundary.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the surname began to take on its modern spelling of Meares. One notable figure from this period was John Meares (1564-1636), an English clergyman and author who served as the rector of Winwick, Lancashire.

Other notable individuals with the Meares surname include:

1. John Meares (1756-1809), an English maritime fur trader and explorer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America in the late 18th century.

2. Richard Meares (1624-1683), an English lawyer and politician who served as a Member of Parliament for Gloucestershire.

3. Ethel Meares (1879-1952), an Australian psychologist and pioneer in the field of psychotherapy, known for her work on the Meares-Fernald theory of personality development.

4. Edward Meares (1619-1677), an English clergyman and author who wrote several religious works, including "The Spiritual Conflict and Conquest" (1659).

5. Thomas Meares (1824-1874), a British naval officer and explorer who surveyed the coastal regions of British Columbia and Alaska in the mid-19th century.

The Meares surname has a rich historical background, reflecting its origins as a locational name associated with boundary areas and its evolution over the centuries through various spellings and bearers of the name across different fields and professions.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Meares

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

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

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Meares, 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!