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

Orchard, 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 Orchard surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Orchard in America

Orchard is the 13101st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Orchard surname appeared 2,340 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 Orchard.

We can also compare 2010 data for Orchard 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 Orchard

The surname Orchard is of English origin and can be traced back to the late 12th century. It is a locational name derived from the Old English words "ort-geard", meaning a garden or orchard of fruit trees. The name originally referred to a person who lived near an orchard or worked as an orchard keeper.

Some of the earliest recorded instances of the Orchard surname can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire from 1190, where it is spelled as "de Orchard". The name also appears in the Subsidy Rolls of Sussex from 1296, listed as "Atte Orchard". These early spellings suggest that the name was initially a descriptive one, denoting someone who lived near or worked in an orchard.

In the Domesday Book of 1086, a record of landowners in England, there is an entry for a place called "Orcarde" in Somerset, which may have been the origin of some early instances of the Orchard surname.

One of the earliest known bearers of the Orchard surname was William de Orchard, who was recorded in the Feet of Fines for Essex in 1260. Another early instance was John Attorchard, who was mentioned in the Subsidy Rolls of Sussex in 1327.

Over the centuries, the surname Orchard has been associated with several notable individuals. These include:

1. Sir James Orchard (1653-1714), an English churchman and theologian who served as Bishop of Ely from 1705 until his death.

2. Robert Orchard (1608-1665), an English clergyman and author who wrote several religious works, including "The Portraiture of a Christian Gentleman".

3. Thomas Orchard (1785-1865), an English Baptist minister and author who wrote extensively on baptism and other theological topics.

4. Sir William Orchard (1825-1904), a British Army officer who served in the Crimean War and was later appointed Lieutenant-Governor of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.

5. John Orchard (1928-2020), an English cricketer who played for Somerset County Cricket Club and represented England in six Test matches between 1951 and 1954.

While the Orchard surname has its roots in England, it has since spread to other parts of the world, particularly through immigration and settlement in various English-speaking countries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Orchard

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

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

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

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