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

Tawney, 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 Tawney surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Tawney in America

Tawney is the 17176th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Tawney surname appeared 1,649 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 Tawney.

We can also compare 2010 data for Tawney 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 Tawney

The surname Tawney has its origins in England, dating back to the late 16th century. It is believed to be derived from the Old English word "tawny," which means "brownish-yellow" or "tan-colored." This suggests that the name may have originally referred to someone with a tanned complexion or perhaps someone who worked with tawny or yellowish materials.

The earliest recorded instances of the name Tawney can be found in various parish records and church registers from the late 16th and early 17th centuries. One notable example is the baptismal record of Thomas Tawney in the parish of St. Mary's, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, in 1595.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Tawney surname was primarily concentrated in the counties of Suffolk, Norfolk, and Essex in eastern England. It is possible that the name may have originated from a specific place or location with a name derived from the word "tawny," although no definitive evidence of this has been found.

The Tawney name has been associated with several notable individuals throughout history. One of the earliest was John Tawney (c. 1580-1644), an English clergyman and religious writer who served as the rector of Swainsthorpe in Norfolk.

Another significant figure was Richard Henry Tawney (1880-1962), a renowned economic historian and social critic from England. He was a prominent proponent of Christian socialism and authored influential works such as "Religion and the Rise of Capitalism" and "Equality."

In the literary world, Cyril Tawney (1930-2005) was a celebrated English folk singer and songwriter known for his contributions to the British folk revival of the 1960s and 1970s.

Other notable individuals with the Tawney surname include Robert Henry Tawney (1879-1962), an English philosopher and educational theorist, and William Tawney (1677-1731), an English merchant and writer who published works on trade and commerce.

While the Tawney surname has its roots in England, it has since spread to other parts of the world, including North America and Australia, due to migration and immigration patterns over the centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Tawney

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

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

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

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