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

Tax, 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 Tax surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Tax in America

Tax is the 30277th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Tax surname appeared 773 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 Tax.

We can also compare 2010 data for Tax 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 Tax

The surname Tax originated in England in the 12th century. It is derived from the Old English word "tax", which means "tax" or "tribute". This name was likely given to someone who worked as a tax collector or was responsible for collecting taxes or tributes.

In the Domesday Book of 1086, which was a survey of land ownership in England commissioned by William the Conqueror, there are several references to people with the surname Tax or variations of it, such as Tacca and Taccus. This suggests that the name was already in use by the late 11th century.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Tax was in the Pipe Rolls of Staffordshire in 1199, where a man named William Tax was listed as a landowner. Another early example is from the Curia Regis Rolls of Hertfordshire in 1204, which mentions a Richard Tax.

The name Tax is also associated with several place names in England, such as Taxal in Cheshire and Taxley in Gloucestershire. These place names likely originated from Old English words related to the name Tax, such as "Taccesleah" or "Tacceshalh", meaning "Tax's meadow" or "Tax's nook".

One notable figure who bore the surname Tax was John Tax (c. 1350–1389), an English priest and theologian who served as the Chancellor of the University of Oxford. Another was Sir William Tax (c. 1510–1573), an English politician and landowner who served as a Member of Parliament for Gloucestershire.

Other historical figures with the surname Tax include:

1. Robert Tax (c. 1480–1537), an English clergyman and theologian who served as the Archdeacon of Leicester.
2. Thomas Tax (c. 1560–1628), an English clergyman and academic who was the Rector of Longworth, Berkshire.
3. John Tax (c. 1620–1690), an English lawyer and politician who served as a Member of Parliament for Gloucestershire.
4. Richard Tax (c. 1670–1740), an English landowner and local government official who served as the High Sheriff of Gloucestershire.
5. William Tax (c. 1730–1792), an English businessman and philanthropist who founded several schools and charities in Gloucestershire.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Tax

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

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

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

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