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

Postman, 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 Postman surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Postman in America

Postman is the 104156th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Postman surname appeared 172 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Postman.

We can also compare 2010 data for Postman 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 Postman

The surname "POSTMAN" is of English origin, deriving from the occupation of a postman or postal worker. It likely emerged during the 16th or 17th century when postal services became more widespread and organized in England.

The name is thought to have originated from the Old English word "post", which referred to a messenger or courier, combined with the word "man" to denote a person who carried and delivered mail. In some early records, the name may have been spelled as "Posteman" or "Postemon".

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname can be found in the records of the Parish of St. Giles, Cripplegate, London, where a certain John Postman was listed in 1594. This suggests that the name was already in use by the late 16th century.

In the 17th century, the name appeared in various parish records across England, such as the baptism of Thomas Postman in Wigan, Lancashire, in 1637, and the marriage of William Postman and Elizabeth Browne in Taunton, Somerset, in 1668.

Notable individuals with the surname "POSTMAN" include:

1. George Postman (1842-1906), an English cricketer who played for Derbyshire County Cricket Club in the late 19th century.
2. David Postman (born 1961), an American journalist and former chief political reporter for the Seattle Times.
3. Neil Postman (1931-2003), an American author, educator, media theorist, and cultural critic, best known for his books "Amusing Ourselves to Death" (1985) and "Technopoly" (1992).
4. Joseph Postman (1809-1892), an English-born Australian settler and landowner, who became a prominent figure in the early development of South Australia.
5. Richard Postman (1922-2008), an American psychologist and professor, known for his research on memory and cognition, particularly in the field of human information processing.

The surname "POSTMAN" has also been associated with various place names in England, such as Postman's Lane in Hertfordshire and Postman's Walk in Oxfordshire, reflecting the historical presence of postal workers in those areas.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Postman

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

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

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

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