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

Stoy, 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 Stoy surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Stoy in America

Stoy is the 22770th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Stoy surname appeared 1,125 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 Stoy.

We can also compare 2010 data for Stoy 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 Stoy

The surname Stoy originated in Germany and can be traced back to the early 12th century. It is derived from the Old German word "stoc," which means "tree stump" or "log." This suggests that the name was initially given to someone who lived near a prominent tree stump or log, or perhaps someone who worked with wood.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Stoy can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae Regiae, a collection of historical documents from Saxony, dating back to 1156. Here, the name appears as "Stoi," which was likely an early spelling variation.

In the 13th century, the name Stoy began appearing in various records across Germany, particularly in the regions of Saxony and Thuringia. A notable example is Johann Stoy, a respected scholar and theologian born in Lauterbach, Saxony, in 1525. He played a significant role in the Protestant Reformation and authored several influential works on theology and education.

The Stoy name also gained prominence in the town of Seibelsdorf, near Erfurt, Thuringia, where a family of notable scholars and educators emerged in the 16th and 17th centuries. One of the most famous members of this family was Friedrich Wilhelm Stoy, born in 1816, who became a leading figure in the field of pedagogy and served as the director of the Prussian Teachers' Seminary in Berlin.

In the late 17th century, the name Stoy appeared in the records of the town of Stolberg, in what is now the state of Saxony-Anhalt. Here, a family of miners and metalworkers carried the name, with records indicating that they were involved in the local mining and metalworking industries.

Another notable individual with the surname Stoy was Johann Stoy, a German composer and organist who lived in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. He was born in Nuremberg in 1557 and is best known for his contributions to the development of the Lutheran chorale.

As the Stoy name spread across Germany and into neighboring regions, it underwent various spelling variations, such as Stoi, Stoye, and Stoyen. These variations likely emerged due to regional dialects and differences in pronunciation and orthography.

While the surname Stoy has its roots in Germany, it has since been carried to other parts of the world through migration and immigration. However, its origins can be traced back to the early medieval period in central Germany, where it was likely associated with geographic features or occupations related to woodworking and forestry.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Stoy

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

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

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

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