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

Terwilliger, 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 Terwilliger surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Terwilliger in America

Terwilliger is the 7966th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Terwilliger surname appeared 4,153 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 Terwilliger.

We can also compare 2010 data for Terwilliger 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 Terwilliger

The surname Terwilliger is of Dutch origin, with its earliest recorded instances dating back to the 17th century in the Netherlands. It is derived from the Old Dutch words "ter" meaning "at the" and "wilg" meaning "willow tree." Together, they form the phrase "at the willow tree," suggesting that the name may have originated from a location or landmark near a willow tree.

One of the earliest recorded mentions of the Terwilliger surname can be found in the Calvinistic Dutch Reformed Church records from the town of Dordrecht, in the province of South Holland, in the year 1657. These records document the baptism of a child named Hendrick Terwilliger, indicating that the family had already established a presence in the region by that time.

As Dutch settlers began emigrating to the New World in the 17th and 18th centuries, the Terwilliger name found its way to the American colonies. One notable early bearer of the name was Petrus Terwilliger, born around 1645 in the Netherlands, who arrived in New Netherland (present-day New York) in the late 1600s and settled in the area that is now Kingston, Ulster County.

In the early 1800s, a branch of the Terwilliger family relocated to Pennsylvania, where they became prominent landowners and farmers. One such individual was Jacob Terwilliger, born in 1785, who owned a sizable farming estate in the Lehigh Valley region of the state.

Another notable figure in Terwilliger history is Levi Terwilliger, born in 1823 in New York. He was a renowned lawyer and judge who served as a Justice of the New York Supreme Court from 1877 to 1895. His legal expertise and judicial decisions left a lasting impact on the state's jurisprudence.

Moving into the 20th century, the Terwilliger name gained further recognition with the accomplishments of George Terwilliger, born in 1891 in California. He was a successful businessman and real estate developer who played a pivotal role in shaping the growth and development of the city of Los Angeles in the early to mid-1900s.

Throughout its history, the Terwilliger surname has been associated with various professions, from agriculture and law to business and real estate development, reflecting the diverse contributions of its bearers to the societies in which they lived.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Terwilliger

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

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

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

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