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

Sea, 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 Sea surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Sea in America

Sea is the 26576th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Sea surname appeared 917 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Sea.

We can also compare 2010 data for Sea 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 Sea

The surname Sea is an English habitational name derived from the Old English word 'sæ' meaning the sea or ocean. The name likely originated as a description for someone who lived near the sea or coast. It is believed to have first emerged in the 13th century in coastal areas of southern and eastern England.

One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Walter de la Sea, recorded in the Hundred Rolls of Cambridgeshire in 1279. The name is also found as Sea, Atte Sea, and De la Sea in medieval records from Kent, Sussex, and Essex. Some variant spellings included See, Zee, and Zea.

In the 14th century, the surname appears in the Court Rolls of the Manor of Wakefield, Yorkshire, with references to John del See in 1317 and Adam del See in 1348. The name is also found in the Subsidy Rolls of Cambridgeshire in 1327 as John de la See.

Notable historical figures with the Sea surname include Robert Sea (c.1450-1516), an English Catholic martyr who was executed during the Protestant Reformation. Sir John Sea (1592-1658) was an English judge and Member of Parliament during the reign of Charles I. Admiral Sir William Sea (1710-1768) was a British naval officer who served in the War of Jenkins' Ear and the Seven Years' War.

Other early bearers of the name include John Sea, a merchant from Bristol mentioned in records from 1580, and William Sea, a landowner in Norfolk recorded in the Feet of Fines for 1598. The name is also found in parish records from the 16th and 17th centuries in places like Ipswich, Suffolk, and Sidlesham, Sussex.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Sea

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

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

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

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