Poling last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Poling

Derived from a place name meaning "people of the village of Poling" in Sussex, England.

Poling, 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 Poling surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Poling in America

Poling is the 4558th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Poling surname appeared 7,779 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 3 people would have the surname Poling.

We can also compare 2010 data for Poling 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 4558 4333 5.06%
Count 7,779 7,587 2.50%
Proportion per 100k 2.64 2.81 -6.24%

The history of the last name Poling

The surname POLING is of English origin and dates back to the late 12th century. It is derived from the Old English word "pol", meaning a pool or small body of standing water. The name is thought to have originated as a descriptive surname for someone who lived near a pool or pond.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name POLING appears in the Curia Regis Rolls of Northumberland in 1214, which mentions a Thomas de Poling. This suggests the name was already well-established in northern England by the early 13th century.

During the medieval period, the name was sometimes spelled as Pooling or Pullin, reflecting its origins from the word "pol". There are also references to place names such as Poling in Sussex, which may have contributed to the development of the surname.

In the 16th century, a notable bearer of the name was Sir John Poling (c.1520-1587), an English Member of Parliament who served as Sheriff of Kent in 1572. Another early example is William Poling, who was born in Lincolnshire in 1603 and later emigrated to Virginia Colony in the 1620s.

Other historical figures with the surname POLING include Daniel Poling (1884-1968), an American Christian minister and author from Portland, Oregon. During World War II, he served as the chaplain of the United States Senate and was a prominent voice for religious unity.

In the 18th century, James Poling (1725-1809) was a Scottish immigrant to America who fought in the Revolutionary War and later settled in Pennsylvania. His descendants went on to establish themselves in various parts of the United States.

Another notable bearer of the name was John Poling (1786-1863), an early pioneer and settler in Ohio who served as a Justice of the Peace and was involved in the formation of several counties in the state.

The POLING surname has a rich history rooted in the English countryside, where it originally described someone who lived near a pool or pond. While the spelling has evolved over time, the name has been carried by individuals from various walks of life, including politicians, ministers, and early American settlers.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Poling

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

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 Poling was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 94.37% 7,341
Non-Hispanic Black Only 0.36% 28
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 0.77% 60
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.35% 27
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 1.26% 98
Hispanic Origin 2.89% 225

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 Poling has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 94.37% 96.22% -1.94%
Black 0.36% 0.26% 32.26%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.77% 0.59% 26.47%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.35% 0.29% 18.75%
Two or More Races 1.26% 0.83% 41.15%
Hispanic 2.89% 1.81% 45.96%

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

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

"Poling last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on July 26, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/poling-surname-popularity/.

"Poling last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/poling-surname-popularity/. Accessed 26 July, 2024

Poling last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/poling-surname-popularity/.

Search for a name

Search for a first or last name to learn more about its origin, meaning, and more.

Simple as that.