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

Radcliff, 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 Radcliff surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Radcliff in America

Radcliff is the 6489th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Radcliff surname appeared 5,232 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 Radcliff.

We can also compare 2010 data for Radcliff 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 Radcliff

The surname Radcliff has its origins in England, emerging during the medieval period. It is a locational name derived from the place name Radcliffe or Ratcliffe, which is found in several counties across England, including Lancashire, Yorkshire, and Buckinghamshire. The name is believed to be derived from the Old English words "rad" meaning "red" and "clif" meaning "cliff" or "slope," suggesting a connection to a red cliff or hillside.

The earliest recorded instances of the surname can be traced back to the 13th century. One notable early reference is found in the Hundred Rolls of Buckinghamshire from 1273, which mentions a William de Radeclive. Another early record is from the Subsidy Rolls of Lancashire in 1332, which includes the name Robertus de Radeclyve.

The Radcliff surname has been prominent throughout English history, with several notable individuals bearing this name. One of the earliest was Sir Ralph Radcliffe (c. 1335-1386), a knight and landowner from Lancashire who served as a Member of Parliament. Another prominent figure was Sir John Radcliffe (c. 1537-1568), a courtier and member of the Privy Council during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

In the 17th century, John Radcliffe (1650-1714) was an influential English physician and founder of the Radcliffe Library and the Radcliffe Observatory in Oxford. His contemporary, James Radcliffe, 3rd Earl of Derwentwater (1689-1716), played a significant role in the Jacobite rising of 1715, leading rebel forces against the Hanoverian succession.

During the 18th century, Ann Radcliffe (1764-1823) gained fame as a pioneering English author and a founding figure of the Gothic fiction genre, with novels such as "The Mysteries of Udolpho" and "The Italian." Another notable figure from this period was Sir Joseph Radcliffe (1744-1819), a British naval officer and colonial administrator who served as the first Governor of St. Helena.

The Radcliff surname has also been associated with various place names and their historical spellings, such as Radcliffe Tower in Lancashire, formerly known as Radeclive or Radclyffe Tower, and the village of Radcliffe-on-Trent in Nottinghamshire, which was recorded as Radeclive in the Domesday Book of 1086.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Radcliff

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

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

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

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