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

Rawls, 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 Rawls surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Rawls in America

Rawls is the 3074th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Rawls surname appeared 11,679 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 4 people would have the surname Rawls.

We can also compare 2010 data for Rawls 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 Rawls

The surname Rawls has its origins in Old English and is derived from the word "raw," which means "row" or "line." It is thought to have originated as a surname in the northern counties of England, particularly Yorkshire and Northumberland, during the 12th and 13th centuries.

The name Rawls is believed to have been initially used as a descriptive name, referring to someone who lived along a row of houses or a particular line of habitation. It may have also been used to refer to a person who lived near a boundary line or a ridge.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Rawls can be found in the Yorkshire Poll Tax Returns of 1379, where a Thomas Rawls is mentioned. The name also appears in the Inquisitiones Post Mortem records for Yorkshire in the 14th century.

During the Middle Ages, the name Rawls was sometimes spelled as "Rawles" or "Rawlins." These variations were likely due to regional dialects and the inconsistencies in spelling before standardization.

Notable individuals with the surname Rawls include John Rawls (1921-2002), an influential American philosopher known for his theory of justice as fairness. Another prominent figure is Beverly Rawls (1938-2005), an American baseball player who played for the Kansas City Royals and the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1960s and 1970s.

In the realm of literature, the name Rawls is associated with the American novelist Winston Groom (1944-2020), best known for his novel "Forrest Gump." Groom's full name was Winston Groom Rawls.

The name Rawls also had historical connections to place names in England. For instance, there was a village called Rawlins Cross in Derbyshire, which was mentioned in records from the 16th century.

Another notable individual with the surname Rawls was Robert Rawls (1833-1918), an American politician who served as the 25th Governor of Missouri from 1869 to 1871.

Throughout its history, the surname Rawls has maintained a strong presence in various regions of England, particularly in the northern counties, and has been carried to other parts of the world through migration and exploration.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Rawls

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

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

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

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