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

Renfrow, 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 Renfrow surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Renfrow in America

Renfrow is the 8337th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Renfrow surname appeared 3,972 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 Renfrow.

We can also compare 2010 data for Renfrow 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 Renfrow

The surname Renfrow has its origins in the English language and traces back to medieval times. It is believed to have derived from the Old English words "rǣn" meaning "rain" and "frōg" meaning "frog," suggesting the name may have referred to someone who lived near a rainy or marshy area where frogs were abundant.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire, England, from 1327, which mentions a John Raynfrogh. The name appeared with various spellings in historical records, such as Raynfrogh, Rainfrogh, and Renfro, before settling into its modern form of Renfrow.

The Renfrow surname was particularly prominent in the counties of Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, and Herefordshire in the West Midlands region of England. Some early bearers of the name included William Raynfrogh, born in 1412 in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, and Thomas Renfro, born in 1508 in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, as the Renfrow family began to spread across England, several notable individuals with this surname emerged. One such person was John Renfrow, a merchant and landowner from Bristol, who lived from 1539 to 1612. Another was Edward Renfrow, a clergyman and author born in 1625 in Oxfordshire, who published several theological works.

As the British Empire expanded, the Renfrow name also found its way to the American colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries. One of the earliest recorded instances is that of William Renfrow, who was born in Virginia in 1685 and served in the colonial militia during the French and Indian War.

In the 19th century, a prominent bearer of the Renfrow name was Samuel Renfrow, a Baptist minister and educator from Tennessee, who lived from 1803 to 1885 and played a significant role in establishing several educational institutions in the Southern United States.

Another notable individual was Josiah Renfrow, an American businessman and politician from Arkansas, who was born in 1839 and served as a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives in the late 19th century.

Throughout its long history, the Renfrow surname has been carried by individuals from various walks of life, from merchants and clergymen to politicians and educators, reflecting the diverse experiences and contributions of those who have borne this name over the centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Renfrow

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!