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

Mosher, 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 Mosher surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Mosher in America

Mosher is the 2325th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Mosher surname appeared 15,672 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 5 people would have the surname Mosher.

We can also compare 2010 data for Mosher 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 Mosher

The surname Mosher originated in England, with records dating back to the 13th century. It is believed to derive from the Old English word "mos," meaning "moss," and the surname likely referred to someone who lived near a mossy area or worked with moss in some capacity.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name appears in the Hundred Rolls of 1273, which lists a Richard le Moshere from Oxfordshire. The surname was also found in various forms, such as Mossere, Mossor, and Mossur, in medieval records from counties like Norfolk, Suffolk, and Lincolnshire.

In the 16th century, the name took on the more modern spelling of Mosher, with records showing a Thomas Mosher residing in Wivenhoe, Essex, in 1524. Around the same time, the surname appeared in the Subsidy Rolls of Gloucestershire in 1523, where a John Mosher was listed.

During the 17th century, the Mosher family established themselves in the New World, with several members settling in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. One notable early Mosher was Hugh Mosher, who arrived in Massachusetts in 1635 and later became a prominent figure in the town of Windsor, Connecticut.

Other notable individuals with the surname Mosher include:

1. Samuel Mosher (1617-1686), an early settler of Windsor, Connecticut, and one of the founders of the town of Westfield, Massachusetts.
2. Thomas Mosher (1852-1923), an American publisher known for producing high-quality editions of literary works in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
3. Joseph Albert Mosher (1868-1944), an American educator and philosopher who served as the president of Hillsdale College in Michigan.
4. Clelia Duel Mosher (1863-1940), an American physician and medical lecturer who was a pioneer in the field of sexuality and contraception education.
5. Howard Frank Mosher (1942-2017), an American novelist and playwright known for his works set in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont.

While the Mosher surname originated in England, it has since spread to other parts of the world, with significant populations in the United States, Canada, and Australia.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Mosher

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

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

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

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