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

Moody, 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 Moody surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Moody in America

Moody is the 519th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Moody surname appeared 64,429 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 22 people would have the surname Moody.

We can also compare 2010 data for Moody 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 Moody

The surname Moody is of English origin, derived from the Middle English word "mody," meaning moody or temperamental. It likely emerged as a descriptive nickname for someone with a changeable or unpredictable disposition.

The name is believed to have originated in the county of Lancashire, England, where it was first recorded in the 13th century. Some of the earliest documented instances of the surname can be found in Lancashire parish records from that period.

Interestingly, the Moody surname also appears in the famous Domesday Book of 1086, which was a vast survey of landholdings and property ownership commissioned by William the Conqueror. This suggests that the name may have even older Anglo-Saxon roots.

One of the earliest known bearers of the Moody surname was Sir Henry Moody, a prominent English landowner and military commander who lived during the reign of King Edward III in the 14th century (1312-1377). Another notable figure was Sir Ralph Moody, a member of the English Parliament in the late 15th century.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Moody surname spread across various regions of England, with concentrations found in counties like Yorkshire, Derbyshire, and Nottinghamshire. Some examples include Richard Moody (1513-1583), an English clergyman and academic, and Sir Henry Moody (1590-1668), a wealthy merchant and politician who served as Lord Mayor of London.

In the 18th century, the Moody name gained further recognition with individuals like James Moody (1707-1785), a British navigator and explorer who conducted extensive surveys of the Caribbean and Florida regions. Another notable figure was John Moody (1727-1812), an English dissenting minister and tutor who established a prestigious academy in Warwickshire.

As the British Empire expanded, the Moody surname spread to various parts of the world, including North America, Australia, and other former British colonies. One prominent example is Dwight L. Moody (1837-1899), an American evangelist and publisher who was instrumental in the growth of the evangelical Christian movement in the United States.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Moody

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

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

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

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