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

Oxford, 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 Oxford surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Oxford in America

Oxford is the 7387th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Oxford surname appeared 4,509 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Oxford.

We can also compare 2010 data for Oxford 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 Oxford

The surname Oxford originated in England during the Anglo-Saxon period. It is a locational name derived from the city of Oxford, whose name comes from the Old English words "oxen" and "ford," referring to an oxen crossing point over the River Thames. The earliest recorded spelling of the place name was Oxeneford in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 912 AD.

Oxford is one of the few English place names mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, a comprehensive survey of land and landholdings commissioned by William the Conqueror. This suggests the surname Oxford was already in use by the late 11th century.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Oxford surname is found in the Pipe Rolls of Northamptonshire in 1202, which mention a Richard de Oxenford. Another early example is Robert de Oxford, who was listed as a resident of Oxfordshire in the Hundred Rolls of 1273.

During the Middle Ages, the Oxford surname was particularly prevalent in the counties of Oxfordshire, Berkshire, and Buckinghamshire, reflecting its origins from the city of Oxford. Notable bearers of the name include John de Oxford, a 13th-century canon of Salisbury Cathedral, and Roger de Oxford, a 14th-century Member of Parliament for Oxfordshire.

In the 16th century, Sir Walter Oxford (1501-1552) was a prominent courtier and diplomat during the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI. Another notable figure was Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (1550-1604), an English Renaissance courtier, playwright, and poet who is sometimes proposed as the real author behind the works attributed to William Shakespeare.

Other prominent individuals with the Oxford surname include Robert Oxford (1568-1616), an English Jesuit priest and martyr executed during the Protestant Reformation, and John Oxford (1637-1709), an English Presbyterian minister and tutor.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Oxford

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

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

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

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