2000
#14,521
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,882
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.70
Rare Last name
Reddish
A surname describing someone with reddish or reddish-brown hair color.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,178 Americans carry the last name Reddish. That puts it at #14,950 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.64 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 157,371 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Reddish surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Reddish with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
2.2K
1 in 157,371
Census rank
#14,950
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.9K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,899 bearers of the surname Reddish in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.64 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 14950th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Reddish, the largest self-reported group is White at 68.4%. The next largest groups are Black (23.4%) and Two or More Races (4.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Reddish
The surname Reddish is of English origin, derived from a place name referring to the reddish hue of the soil in certain areas. It likely originated in the medieval period, around the 13th or 14th century.
One of the earliest known references to the surname Reddish can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire, dated 1379, which mention a Richard de Redish. This suggests the name was already well-established by that time.
The Reddish surname is believed to be derived from the Old English words "read" (red) and "isc" (meadow or land), indicating a connection to areas with reddish-colored soil or vegetation. It may also be related to the place name Reddish, a suburb of Stockport in Greater Manchester, England.
In the late 16th century, records show a John Reddishe residing in Withington, Lancashire, in 1592. Another early bearer of the name was William Reddish, who was born in Crich, Derbyshire, in 1618.
Notable individuals with the surname Reddish include Thomas Reddish (1628-1677), an English politician who served as Mayor of Derby in 1669. A more recent example is Joseph Reddish (1908-1985), a British Labour Party politician who served as a Member of Parliament for Halifax from 1945 to 1970.
Other historical figures bearing the Reddish surname include George Reddish (1801-1857), an English surveyor and civil engineer who worked on several railway projects, and Edward Reddish (1784-1868), a British Army officer who fought in the Napoleonic Wars.
The name Reddish has also been associated with various place names, such as Reddish Vale and Reddish Green, both located in the Stockport area of Greater Manchester, England, further reinforcing its connection to the region.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Reddish
Among Census respondents with the surname Reddish, the largest self-reported group is White at 68.4%. The next largest groups are Black (23.4%) and Two or More Races (4.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Reddish bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Reddish surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White68.4% · 1,299
- Black or African American23.4% · 445
- Two or more races4.4% · 84
- Hispanic or Latino2.7% · 51
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 9
Timeline
Historical Census data for Reddish
Reddish appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#15,328
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,913
+31 bearers (+1.6%)
Per 100,000 0.65
Rank movement Down 807 places
2020
#14,950
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,899
-14 bearers (-0.7%)
Per 100,000 0.64
Rank movement Up 378 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #14,521 | 1,882 | 0.70 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #15,328 | 1,913 | 0.65 | +31 bearers (+1.6%) | Down 807 places |
| 2020 | #14,950 | 1,899 | 0.64 | -14 bearers (-0.7%) | Up 378 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Reddish surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #15,328 | #14,950 | 2.5% |
| Count | 1,913 | 1,899 | -0.7% |
| Per 100K | 0.65 | 0.64 | -2.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Reddish bearers went from 1,913 to 1,899 (-0.7% change). The surname moved up 378 positions in the national ranking, going from #15,328 to #14,950.
FAQ
Reddish surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Reddish?
Name Census estimates that about 2,178 living Americans carry the surname Reddish. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 157,371 residents.
How common is Reddish?
Reddish ranks #14,950 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.64 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 1,899 people with the surname Reddish. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,178), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.64 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.64 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Reddish.
Has Reddish become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Reddish went from 1,913 recorded bearers to 1,899. That is a decrease of 14 (-0.7%). In the national ranking it rose from #15,328 to #14,950.
What does the Census say about the background of Reddish?
Among Census respondents with the surname Reddish, the largest self-reported group is White at 68.4%. The next largest groups are Black (23.4%) and Two or More Races (4.4%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Reddish in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.4% (1,299 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Reddish appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (68.4%), Black (23.4%), Two or More Races (4.4%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Reddish (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Reddish mean?
A surname describing someone with reddish or reddish-brown hair color. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Reddish (0.64 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people are called Reddish?
See how many people have the surname Reddish on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.