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

Ordway, 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 Ordway surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Ordway in America

Ordway is the 11478th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Ordway surname appeared 2,741 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 Ordway.

We can also compare 2010 data for Ordway 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 Ordway

The surname Ordway is of English origin and can be traced back to the 11th century. It is believed to be derived from the Old English words "ord" meaning point or spear, and "weg" meaning way or path, suggesting that the name referred to someone who lived near a pointed or spear-shaped path.

The earliest recorded instance of the name is found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which mentions a landowner named Ordewey in Wiltshire, England. This suggests that the name was already well-established in parts of southern England by the late 11th century.

During the Middle Ages, the name appeared in various forms such as Ordewaye, Ordwey, and Ordwaye, reflecting the fluid nature of surname spellings at the time. Some of these variations may have been influenced by local place names, such as the village of Ordway in Somerset, which likely derived its name from the same Old English roots.

One notable early bearer of the name was Sir Thomas Ordway (c. 1380-1442), a knight from Gloucestershire who fought in the Hundred Years' War and was awarded lands for his service. Another was William Ordway (c. 1520-1585), a merchant and alderman in the city of Bristol.

In the 17th century, the Ordway name began to appear in colonial records of New England, as some members of the family emigrated from England to the American colonies. One of the earliest recorded examples is John Ordway (c. 1615-1677), who settled in Newbury, Massachusetts in the 1630s.

Other notable bearers of the Ordway surname include:

1. Nehemiah Ordway (1679-1760), a colonial militia officer who served in the French and Indian Wars.
2. Sergeant John Ordway (1775-1817), a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition who kept a detailed journal of the journey.
3. Alfred Ordway (1821-1897), an American businessman and philanthropist who co-founded the Ordway Treadwell Corporation.
4. Lucius Ordway (1828-1909), a Union Army officer during the American Civil War who received the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Gettysburg.
5. Reverend Moses Ordway (1845-1927), a Methodist minister and educator who served as president of several universities in the United States.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Ordway

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

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

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

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