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

Prince, 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 Prince surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Prince in America

Prince is the 743rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Prince surname appeared 47,168 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 16 people would have the surname Prince.

We can also compare 2010 data for Prince 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 Prince

The surname PRINCE is of English origin, derived from the Old French word "prince," which means "ruler" or "sovereign." It first appeared in England during the Norman Conquest in the 11th century.

The name PRINCE was likely bestowed upon someone who held a position of authority or leadership, perhaps a nobleman or a high-ranking military officer. It could also have been used as a descriptive nickname for someone who exhibited regal or princely qualities.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name PRINCE can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which documented landowners and their holdings in England after the Norman Conquest. The entry mentions a landowner named Radulfus Princeps, which translates to Ralph the Prince.

In the 12th century, a noble family known as the Princes of Gwynedd ruled over parts of Wales. They traced their lineage back to Owain Gwynedd, a powerful Welsh prince who lived from 1100 to 1170 and fought against the Norman invaders.

Another notable bearer of the name PRINCE was John Prince, a 17th-century English writer and scholar who was born in 1588 and died in 1646. He is best known for his work "Worthies of Devon," which chronicled the lives of notable individuals from the county of Devon.

During the English Civil War (1642-1651), a Royalist military leader named Thomas Prince fought for King Charles I. He was born in 1600 and died in 1673, and his actions earned him the nickname "the Worthy Prince."

In the 18th century, a prominent American family with the surname PRINCE included Thomas Prince (1687-1758), a minister and historian in Boston, and his son Nathan Prince (1698-1748), who served as a minister in Hull, Massachusetts.

Throughout history, the surname PRINCE has been associated with individuals who held positions of leadership, authority, and nobility, reflecting its regal connotations and origins in Old French.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Prince

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

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

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

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