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

Salisbury, 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 Salisbury surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Salisbury in America

Salisbury is the 2768th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Salisbury surname appeared 13,038 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 Salisbury.

We can also compare 2010 data for Salisbury 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 Salisbury

The surname Salisbury originates from England and dates back to the medieval period. It is derived from the place name "Salisbury", which was originally spelled "Sarisberie" in Old English. The name refers to the historic city of Salisbury, located in Wiltshire, England.

Salisbury is a locational surname, meaning it was originally given to someone who came from or lived in the city of Salisbury. The city's name itself comes from the Old English words "sæl" meaning "marshy" and "burg" meaning "fortified place" or "town".

One of the earliest recorded mentions of the surname Salisbury can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which was a survey of land ownership commissioned by William the Conqueror. The name appears as "Sarisberie" in this historic document.

In the 13th century, a notable individual with the surname Salisbury was William de Salisbury, who served as the Bishop of Bath and Wells from 1229 to 1244. Another early bearer of the name was John de Salisbury (c. 1120 - 1180), an English philosopher, author, and scholar who served as the secretary to King Henry II.

During the 15th century, Sir John Salisbury (c. 1420 - 1484) was a prominent English nobleman and soldier who fought in the Wars of the Roses. He was knighted for his service to King Edward IV and served as Lord Chamberlain.

In the 16th century, Sir Robert Salisbury (c. 1563 - 1612) was an English philosopher and scholar who held positions at Oxford University and served as Secretary of State under King James I.

One of the most famous individuals with the surname Salisbury was Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury (1563 - 1612), who served as Lord Privy Seal and Secretary of State under Queen Elizabeth I and later as Lord High Treasurer under King James I.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Salisbury

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

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

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

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