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

Tandy, 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 Tandy surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Tandy in America

Tandy is the 13707th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Tandy surname appeared 2,208 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 Tandy.

We can also compare 2010 data for Tandy 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 Tandy

The surname Tandy is believed to have originated in England, specifically in the counties of Yorkshire and Derbyshire, during the medieval period. It is derived from the Old English word "tæn", meaning a twig or a thin branch, and the suffix "-y", indicating a place name.

The earliest recorded mention of the name Tandy can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as "Tændi" and "Tændie". This suggests that the name may have initially referred to a person living near a place overgrown with twigs or small branches.

In the 13th century, the name is documented as "Tandi" and "Tandy" in various legal records and charters from Yorkshire and Derbyshire. Some notable early bearers of the surname include John Tandy, a landowner in Derbyshire mentioned in the Feet of Fines records of 1324, and Robert Tandy, a merchant from York who is recorded in the city's guild rolls in 1412.

The surname Tandy has also been associated with certain place names, such as Tandy Green in Derbyshire and Tandy Hills in West Yorkshire. These locations may have been named after early settlers bearing the Tandy name.

One of the most famous individuals with the surname Tandy was Sir Edmund Tandy (1564-1644), an English lawyer and politician who served as Chief Baron of the Exchequer under King Charles I. Another notable figure was Jeremiah Tandy (1773-1858), an Irish revolutionary and co-founder of the Society of United Irishmen, who played a significant role in the Irish Rebellion of 1798.

Other notable bearers of the Tandy name include Richard Tandy (1737-1808), an English industrialist and entrepreneur who founded the Tandy Corporation, now known as RadioShack; Beaumont Tandy (1917-1990), an English actor and playwright; and Jessica Tandy (1909-1994), an acclaimed American actress who won an Academy Award for her role in the film "Driving Miss Daisy".

While the Tandy surname has spread to various parts of the world due to migration and historical events, its origins can be traced back to the medieval English counties of Yorkshire and Derbyshire, where it likely derived from a description of a person's proximity to a place abundant with twigs or small branches.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Tandy

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

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

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

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