2000
#6,601
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,737
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.76
Rare Last name
Swinney
Derived from a place name meaning "swine island" or from an Old English byname meaning "swineherd."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 5,122 Americans carry the last name Swinney. That puts it at #7,207 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.49 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 66,918 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Swinney surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Swinney with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
5.1K
1 in 66,918
Census rank
#7,207
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.5
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
4.5K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 4,467 bearers of the surname Swinney in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.49 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 7207th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Swinney, the largest self-reported group is White at 70.5%. The next largest groups are Black (21.6%) and Two or More Races (3.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Swinney
The surname SWINNEY is an English toponymic surname derived from a place name meaning "swine pasture" or "pig meadow". It originates from the Old English words "swin" meaning swine or pig, and "ey" meaning an island or meadow. The earliest recorded spelling of the name is found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as "Swinei".
The name is believed to have originated in the county of Northamptonshire, where there are several places that may have given rise to the surname, such as Swinford, Swinnerton, and Swinstead. These place names all share the same root words as the surname SWINNEY.
One of the earliest recorded bearers of the surname was John Swinney, who was mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Lincolnshire in 1202. Another early record is that of William Swinney, who was listed in the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire in 1327.
In the 16th century, the surname appears to have been particularly concentrated in the counties of Northamptonshire, Warwickshire, and Staffordshire. Notable bearers from this period include Richard Swinney, who was born in Warwickshire in 1542, and Thomas Swinney, a merchant from Staffordshire who was born in 1578.
During the 17th century, the name began to spread more widely across England. One prominent individual was Sir John Swinney, a member of Parliament for the borough of Southwark, who was born in 1625 and died in 1697.
In the 18th century, a branch of the Swinney family established themselves in Scotland, where the name was sometimes spelled as "Swinnie". One notable Scottish bearer was Alexander Swinnie, a philosopher and professor at the University of Aberdeen, who was born in 1735 and died in 1803.
Other notable individuals with the surname SWINNEY throughout history include William Swinney, an English soldier who fought in the Napoleonic Wars and was awarded the Waterloo Medal, born in 1793; and George Swinney, a British explorer and naturalist who traveled extensively in South America in the late 19th century, born in 1859 and died in 1912.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Swinney
Among Census respondents with the surname Swinney, the largest self-reported group is White at 70.5%. The next largest groups are Black (21.6%) and Two or More Races (3.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Swinney bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Swinney surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White70.5% · 3,149
- Black or African American21.6% · 964
- Two or more races3.6% · 160
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 148
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 27
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 19
Timeline
Historical Census data for Swinney
Swinney appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#6,909
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,856
+119 bearers (+2.5%)
Per 100,000 1.65
Rank movement Down 308 places
2020
#7,207
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,467
-389 bearers (-8.0%)
Per 100,000 1.49
Rank movement Down 298 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #6,601 | 4,737 | 1.76 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #6,909 | 4,856 | 1.65 | +119 bearers (+2.5%) | Down 308 places |
| 2020 | #7,207 | 4,467 | 1.49 | -389 bearers (-8.0%) | Down 298 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Swinney surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #6,909 | #7,207 | -4.3% |
| Count | 4,856 | 4,467 | -8.0% |
| Per 100K | 1.65 | 1.49 | -9.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Swinney bearers went from 4,856 to 4,467 (-8.0% change). The surname moved down 298 positions in the national ranking, going from #6,909 to #7,207.
FAQ
Swinney surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Swinney?
Name Census estimates that about 5,122 living Americans carry the surname Swinney. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 66,918 residents.
How common is Swinney?
Swinney ranks #7,207 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.49 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 4,467 people with the surname Swinney. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (5,122), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.49 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.49 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Swinney.
Has Swinney become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Swinney went from 4,856 recorded bearers to 4,467. That is a decrease of 389 (-8.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #6,909 to #7,207.
What does the Census say about the background of Swinney?
Among Census respondents with the surname Swinney, the largest self-reported group is White at 70.5%. The next largest groups are Black (21.6%) and Two or More Races (3.6%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Swinney in the 2020 Census, accounting for 70.5% (3,149 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Swinney appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (70.5%), Black (21.6%), Two or More Races (3.6%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Swinney (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Swinney mean?
Derived from a place name meaning "swine island" or from an Old English byname meaning "swineherd." The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Swinney (1.49 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the last name Swinney?
Find out how many people are called Swinney on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.