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

Tim, 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 Tim surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Tim in America

Tim is the 27081st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Tim surname appeared 894 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 Tim.

We can also compare 2010 data for Tim 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 Tim

The surname Tim has its origins in England, dating back to the medieval period. It is derived from the Old English personal name Timma, which is a diminutive form of the name Timothy, meaning "honoring God" or "honored by God." The name was particularly common in the counties of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as Tima. This suggests that the name was already in use during the time of the Norman Conquest. In the 13th century, the name was recorded as Tym in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire.

The surname Tim is also believed to have been influenced by the Old Norse name Tumi, which was derived from the word "tūmr" meaning "empty" or "vacant." This connection may explain the presence of the name in areas of England with strong Viking influence, such as the East Midlands and East Anglia.

During the Middle Ages, the surname Tim was often associated with place names, such as Timberland and Timworth. The latter was a small village in Suffolk, and its name is thought to have derived from the Old English words "tim" meaning "timber" and "worth" meaning "enclosure" or "farm."

One notable figure with the surname Tim was Sir John Tim, a prominent landowner and Member of Parliament for Norfolk in the 14th century (born around 1320, died around 1390). Another was William Tim, a wealthy merchant from York who lived in the 15th century (born circa 1420, died circa 1490).

In the 16th century, the name appeared in various spellings, including Tymme, Tymmes, and Timms. One such individual was John Timms, a renowned clockmaker from London (born around 1550, died circa 1620). In the 17th century, there was Thomas Tim, a prominent scholar and author from Cambridge (born 1612, died 1677).

Another notable figure was Sir Samuel Tim, a successful businessman and philanthropist from Bristol, who lived in the 18th century (born 1725, died 1798). He was known for his contributions to the city's infrastructure and support for various charitable causes.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Tim

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!