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

Musselwhite, 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 Musselwhite surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Musselwhite in America

Musselwhite is the 17613th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Musselwhite surname appeared 1,595 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 Musselwhite.

We can also compare 2010 data for Musselwhite 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 Musselwhite

The surname Musselwhite is of English origin, dating back to the late medieval period. It is a locational name derived from a place name, most likely referring to a village or town where mussels were harvested or sold.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Musselwhite can be found in the Feet of Fines for Essex, a legal document from 1285, which mentions a John de Musselwhite. This suggests that the name was already established in the 13th century.

In the 16th century, the Musselwhite family was recorded as residing in the county of Hertfordshire. The parish registers of St. Michael's in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, contain entries for several Musselwhites, including the marriage of John Musselwhite and Margaret Cowe in 1568.

The name Musselwhite may be related to the place name Muswell Hill in London, which is derived from the Old English words "musse" (meaning "mouse") and "welle" (meaning "spring" or "stream"). It is possible that the name originated from this area and was later adopted as a surname.

One notable bearer of the Musselwhite surname was John Musselwhite (1646-1721), an English clergyman who served as the Rector of Hinton St. George in Somerset from 1685 until his death.

Another historical figure with this surname was William Musselwhite (1786-1863), a British soldier who served in the Napoleonic Wars and was present at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

In the 19th century, the Musselwhite family had a presence in various parts of England, including Yorkshire and Lancashire. The 1881 census records a Thomas Musselwhite, born in 1846, working as a coal miner in Barnsley, Yorkshire.

Additionally, the name Musselwhite has been associated with the town of Selby in Yorkshire, where a family of that name owned a brewery in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. One member, James Musselwhite (1857-1931), was a prominent businessman and served as the Mayor of Selby in 1895.

Throughout history, the Musselwhite surname has maintained its connection to its English roots, with various branches of the family residing in different parts of the country and contributing to local communities and industries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Musselwhite

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

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

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