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

Timothy, 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 Timothy surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Timothy in America

Timothy is the 11204th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Timothy surname appeared 2,821 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 Timothy.

We can also compare 2010 data for Timothy 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 Timothy

The surname Timothy is derived from the Greek given name Timotheos, meaning "honoring God" or "honored by God". It originated in ancient Greece and became a popular Christian name in the early days of the religion, due to its biblical associations with the disciple Timothy, who was a companion of the Apostle Paul.

The earliest recorded instances of the surname Timothy date back to the late 12th century in England, where it was likely adopted by individuals who were originally given the name Timotheos or a variant thereof. It is believed that the name was brought to England by Norman settlers after the conquest of 1066, as the Normans had close ties with the Byzantine Empire and would have been familiar with Greek names and culture.

In medieval records, the surname appears in various spellings, such as Tymothy, Tymothie, and Tymothee, reflecting the variations in pronunciation and spelling conventions of the time. One notable early bearer of the name was Sir John Timothy, a knight who fought in the Wars of the Roses in the 15th century.

As the surname spread across England, it became associated with certain regions and localities. For example, the village of Timothy Bridge in Cheshire is thought to have been named after an early settler with the surname Timothy.

Over the centuries, several notable individuals have borne the surname Timothy. These include:

1. Samuel Timothy (1609-1692), an English Puritan minister and co-founder of the town of Roxbury, Massachusetts.
2. James Timothy (1719-1793), an American military officer and Patriot during the American Revolutionary War.
3. Ebenezer Timothy (1737-1817), an American physician and politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives.
4. Nicholas Timothy (1823-1892), a British architect known for his work on churches and other buildings in London.
5. John Timothy (1858-1924), a British politician and member of parliament for the Liberal Party.

The surname Timothy has also been subject to various spelling variations over time, including Tymothy, Timmothy, and Timmothy, reflecting regional differences in pronunciation and orthographic conventions.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Timothy

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

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

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

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