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

Ramsay, 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 Ramsay surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Ramsay in America

Ramsay is the 4380th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Ramsay surname appeared 8,120 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 Ramsay.

We can also compare 2010 data for Ramsay 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 Ramsay

The surname Ramsay is of Scottish origin, derived from the Old English word "raumr" meaning a wild garlic or ramson plant. It is believed to have originated as a locational name, referring to someone who lived near a place where these plants grew abundantly.

The earliest recorded use of the name Ramsay dates back to the 12th century in the Scottish county of Midlothian. It is found in various medieval records, including the Ragman Rolls of 1296, which list several individuals bearing the name, such as William de Ramesye and Thomas de Ramesye.

The name Ramsay has been associated with several notable figures throughout history. One of the earliest and most prominent was Sir Alexander Ramsay (c. 1285-1342), a Scottish knight and military commander who played a significant role in the Wars of Scottish Independence under King Robert the Bruce.

Another influential bearer of the Ramsay surname was Allan Ramsay (1686-1758), a renowned Scottish poet and playwright who was a leading figure in the 18th-century literary revival in Scotland. He was also the first to establish a circulating library in Edinburgh.

In more recent times, the name has been carried by notable individuals such as David Ramsay (1749-1815), an American historian and patriot during the American Revolutionary War, and Sir William Ramsay (1852-1916), a Scottish chemist who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1904 for his discovery of noble gases.

The name Ramsay has also been associated with various place names, such as Ramsay in the Scottish Borders, Ramsay in Huntingdonshire, England, and the village of Ramsey in Cambridgeshire, England, which was formerly known as Ramesye or Rameseye.

While the surname has its roots in Scotland, it has since spread to other parts of the world, particularly through Scottish migration and settlement. Today, the name Ramsay can be found in many countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Ramsay

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

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

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

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