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

Tennant, 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 Tennant surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Tennant in America

Tennant is the 4085th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Tennant surname appeared 8,693 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 3 people would have the surname Tennant.

We can also compare 2010 data for Tennant 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 Tennant

The surname Tennant originated in Scotland during the 12th century. It is derived from the Old English word "tenant," which means "one who holds land or property from a superior." The name likely emerged as an occupational term for a tenant farmer or a person who rented land from a landlord.

The earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in medieval Scottish records and charters from the 12th and 13th centuries. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Walter le Tenant, who was mentioned in the Ragman Rolls of 1296, a record of Scottish landowners who swore fealty to King Edward I of England.

In the 14th century, the name appeared in various spellings, such as Tennand, Tennent, and Tenand, reflecting the phonetic variations common in medieval times. The surname was particularly prevalent in the Scottish Lowlands, particularly in the counties of Ayrshire, Lanarkshire, and Renfrewshire.

Notable historical figures with the surname Tennant include Sir John Tennant (1758-1840), a Scottish industrialist and founder of the Tennant chemical company in Glasgow. Another prominent bearer was Sir Charles Tennant (1768-1838), a Scottish businessman and Member of Parliament for Peebles.

In the literary world, William Tennant (1784-1848) was a Scottish poet and philologist known for his poem "Anster Fair." John Tennant (1834-1913) was a Scottish explorer and naturalist who traveled extensively in Australia and published works on the flora and fauna of the region.

The surname Tennant also has connections to place names. The village of Tennant in Perthshire, Scotland, likely derived its name from the surname. Similarly, the town of Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory of Australia was named after an explorer named John Tennant McDougall, who explored the region in the 1870s.

Throughout history, the Tennant surname has been borne by individuals from various walks of life, including landowners, industrialists, poets, explorers, and naturalists. Its origins as an occupational name reflect the agricultural and landowning traditions of medieval Scotland, and its presence across different regions and time periods showcases the widespread dispersal of those bearing this surname.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Tennant

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

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

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

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