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

Sanderson, 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 Sanderson surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Sanderson in America

Sanderson is the 1462nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Sanderson surname appeared 24,384 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 8 people would have the surname Sanderson.

We can also compare 2010 data for Sanderson 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 Sanderson

The surname Sanderson is an English patronymic name derived from the given name "Sanders" or "Saunder", which itself is a variant of the name Alexander. The name originates from the 12th century and is believed to have been first used in northern England, particularly in Yorkshire and Lancashire.

The earliest recorded instance of the Sanderson surname dates back to the 13th century, with a mention of a William Saunderson in the Assize Court Rolls of Yorkshire from 1219. The name also appears in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273, which were records of landowners in England.

During the Middle Ages, the name was often spelled in various ways, such as Saunderson, Saundirson, and Saundyrson, reflecting the flexible nature of English spelling at the time. The standardized spelling of "Sanderson" became more common in the 16th and 17th centuries.

One of the earliest notable figures with the Sanderson surname was Robert Sanderson (1587-1663), an English theologian and bishop who served as the Bishop of Lincoln from 1660 until his death. He was known for his scholarly works on logic and theology.

Another prominent individual was Sir William Sanderson (1586-1676), an English statesman and diplomat who served as the Secretary of State for the Northern Department under King Charles I and played a significant role in the English Civil War.

In the literary world, Thomas Sanderson (1759-1829) was a British poet and writer who published several volumes of poetry and prose works, including "The American Songster" and "Biographical Memoirs of the Poets of Great Britain and Ireland".

James Sanderson (1769-1841) was a Scottish botanist and naturalist who made significant contributions to the study of plant taxonomy and authored several works, including "A Biographical Notice of the Late Thomas Jenkins".

Another notable figure was Sir Thomas Sanderson (1891-1962), a British diplomat and civil servant who served as the Governor of Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) from 1933 to 1937 and later as the Governor of Victoria, Australia, from 1949 to 1954.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Sanderson

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

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

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

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