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

Pender, 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 Pender surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Pender in America

Pender is the 5485th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Pender surname appeared 6,340 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 Pender.

We can also compare 2010 data for Pender 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 Pender

The surname Pender is of English origin, derived from the Old English word "pender," which was a nickname for a keeper or manager of the pinfold, an enclosure where stray animals were kept until claimed by their owners. This name first appeared in the 12th century in the counties of Yorkshire and Lancashire.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Pender can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire from 1166, which mention a Roger Pender. The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 also include entries for individuals with the surname Pender, such as Robert le Pender from Oxfordshire.

In the 13th century, the Pender surname was also found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which was a survey of land ownership commissioned by William the Conqueror. This document listed several individuals with similar spellings like "Pyndere" and "Pendere" in various counties across England.

The Pender name has also been associated with various place names throughout history. For instance, the village of Penderyn in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, was formerly known as "Penderyn" in the 16th century, which may have been derived from the Old English words "pen" (hill) and "dwr" (water).

Notable individuals with the surname Pender include Sir John Pender (1815-1896), a British businessman and pioneer in the laying of submarine telegraph cables; Thomas Pender (1800-1870), an Irish-born Australian explorer and surveyor; and Wilfred Pender (1893-1986), a British artist and wood engraver.

Other notable Penders throughout history include Sir John Pender Jr. (1857-1927), who succeeded his father as chairman of the Eastern Telegraph Company; Samuel Pender (1804-1883), an English-born Canadian businessman and politician; and James Pender (1832-1897), a Scottish-born Australian politician and journalist.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Pender

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

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

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