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

Red, 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 Red surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Red in America

Red is the 16824th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Red surname appeared 1,697 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Red.

We can also compare 2010 data for Red 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 Red

The surname RED is an English habitational name derived from the Old English word 'read', meaning red. It likely originated as a descriptive for someone who lived near a prominent red-colored landmark or terrain feature.

The earliest known recorded instances of the surname RED date back to the late 12th century in various English county records. One of the earliest bearers was William le Red, mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire in 1191.

In the 13th century, the surname appeared in the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire, listing a Richard le Red in 1273. The Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire in 1275 also recorded a William le Red.

An early holder of the surname was Sir Adam Red, a Scottish knight who fought alongside William Wallace in the Wars of Scottish Independence in the late 13th century.

The name RED is found in the renowned Domesday Book of 1086, with listings such as Radulfus Rufus (Ralph the Red) in Derbyshire and Godricus Russatus (Godric the Red) in Oxfordshire.

Notable bearers of the surname RED throughout history include John Red (c. 1496-1558), an English Protestant martyr burned at the stake during the Marian Persecutions; William Red (c. 1510-1568), an English Roman Catholic priest and martyr; Richard Red (c. 1620-1695), an English puritan minister and author; and George Red (1782-1848), a Scottish painter known for his landscape works.

In the 19th century, John Red (1819-1892) was a prominent English civil engineer who designed several notable bridges and railway lines across Britain.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Red

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

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

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

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