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

Telfair, 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 Telfair surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Telfair in America

Telfair is the 32599th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Telfair surname appeared 705 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 Telfair.

We can also compare 2010 data for Telfair 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 Telfair

The surname Telfair is of Scottish origin and can be traced back to the 16th century. It is believed to be derived from the Old Scots words "telf" or "talph," meaning a piece of ground or a hillock, and "fair," meaning high ground or a mound. The name likely referred to someone who lived on or near a hillock or elevated ground.

The earliest recorded instances of the name Telfair can be found in various Scottish records from the 16th and 17th centuries. One notable reference is in the Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, where a certain John Telfair is mentioned in 1592. Another early record is the Commissariot Record of Edinburgh, which lists a William Telfair in 1605.

The name Telfair has also been associated with several place names in Scotland, such as Telfair Hill in Lanarkshire and Telfair Farm in Kinross-shire. These place names may have influenced the surname or vice versa, as it was common for people to adopt surnames based on their place of residence or origin.

One of the earliest recorded bearers of the surname Telfair was Sir James Telfair (1588-1648), a Scottish landowner and politician who served as a member of the Parliament of Scotland in the early 17th century. Another notable figure was Thomas Telfair (1727-1786), a Scottish merchant and planter who settled in Georgia, United States, and became a prominent figure in the colonial economy.

In the 19th century, Edward Telfair (1735-1807) was a wealthy landowner and politician from Georgia who served as the 16th Governor of Georgia from 1786 to 1787. His cousin, Telfair Hodgson (1804-1888), was a South Carolina planter and politician who served as the 78th Governor of South Carolina from 1879 to 1880.

Another notable bearer of the Telfair surname was Charles Telfair (1778-1833), a Scottish botanist and naturalist who made significant contributions to the study of the flora and fauna of Mauritius, where he lived and worked as a merchant and plantation owner.

The Telfair surname has also been associated with various cultural and educational institutions, such as the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences in Savannah, Georgia, which was established in 1886 and named after the Telfair family, who were prominent patrons of the arts in the region.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Telfair

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

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

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

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