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

Ring, 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 Ring surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Ring in America

Ring is the 2226th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Ring surname appeared 16,381 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 6 people would have the surname Ring.

We can also compare 2010 data for Ring 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 Ring

The surname Ring is of Anglo-Saxon origin, deriving from the Old English word 'hring', meaning a circular band or ring. It is believed to have originated as an occupational name for someone who made or sold rings, or it may have referred to someone who lived near a circular earthwork or boundary.

The earliest known record of the surname Ring is found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as 'Rings' in Lincolnshire. This suggests that the name was already in use by the late 11th century in England.

Another early reference to the name can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire from 1195, where it is recorded as 'Ringe'. The variant spelling 'Ryng' is also found in the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire from 1273.

During the medieval period, the Ring surname was concentrated in the counties of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, and Buckinghamshire, areas where it is likely to have originated. Some notable individuals bearing the name include William Ring, a landowner in Gloucestershire mentioned in the Subsidy Rolls of 1327, and John Ryng, a merchant from Oxford recorded in 1379.

In later centuries, the Ring surname spread more widely across England, and by the 16th century, it had also established a presence in Scotland. One of the earliest recorded Scottish bearers of the name was James Ring, a resident of Stirlingshire mentioned in the Register of the Privy Seal of Scotland in 1542.

Notable individuals with the Ring surname include Sir John Ring (1547-1628), an English politician and member of Parliament for Gloucestershire, and John Ring (1752-1821), an English Catholic priest and author of several religious works. In the United States, one of the earliest recorded bearers of the name was William Ring, who arrived in Virginia as an indentured servant in 1635.

The Ring surname has been carried by several notable individuals throughout history, including the English author and journalist Andrew Ring (1919-1997), the American baseball player Evan Ring (1904-1992), and the British actor and comedian David Ring (1934-2019).

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Ring

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

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

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

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