Swords last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Swords

An occupational surname referring to a soldier, swordsman, or one who makes or sells swords.

Swords, 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 Swords surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Swords in America

Swords is the 11877th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Swords surname appeared 2,636 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Swords.

We can also compare 2010 data for Swords 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 11877 11257 5.36%
Count 2,636 2,578 2.22%
Proportion per 100k 0.89 0.96 -7.57%

The history of the last name Swords

The surname Swords originates from Ireland and can be traced back to the 11th century. It is an Anglo-Norman name derived from the Old French word "espees," meaning swords or blades. This name likely referred to a person who was a swordmaker or a soldier skilled with swords.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Swords surname is found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it is spelled as "Sweord" and "Swerd." This medieval census suggests that the name was present in England shortly after the Norman Conquest of 1066.

In Ireland, the name is closely associated with the town of Swords, located in County Dublin. The town's name is believed to have originated from the Irish word "Sord," which also means "swords." This connection suggests that the Swords family may have originally hailed from or held lands in this area.

Notable individuals with the surname Swords include:

  1. Sir Ralph Swords (c. 1300-1370), an English knight who fought in the Hundred Years' War and served as a commander under Edward III.

  2. John Swords (c. 1550-1613), an Irish Catholic bishop who served as the Archbishop of Armagh from 1586 until his death.

  3. Thomas Swords (1783-1868), an Irish-born American Catholic priest and educator who founded several schools and colleges in the United States.

  4. James Swords (1765-1846), an Irish-American businessman and political figure who served as the Mayor of New York City from 1808 to 1809.

  5. Michael Swords (1836-1914), an Irish-born American Civil War soldier who received the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Gettysburg.

The Swords surname has also been associated with various place names throughout Ireland and England, such as Swords in County Dublin, Swords End in Hertfordshire, and Swordsland in Norfolk.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Swords

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

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 Swords was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 96.43% 2,542
Non-Hispanic Black Only 0.27% 7
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 0.64% 17
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.19% 5
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 1.10% 29
Hispanic Origin 1.37% 36

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 Swords has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 96.43% 97.21% -0.81%
Black 0.27% (S)% (S)%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.64% 0.74% -14.49%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.19% (S)% (S)%
Two or More Races 1.10% 1.09% 0.91%
Hispanic 1.37% 0.62% 75.38%

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

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

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"Swords last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on November 22, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/swords-surname-popularity/.

"Swords last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/swords-surname-popularity/. Accessed 22 November, 2024

Swords last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/swords-surname-popularity/.

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