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

Tollison, 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 Tollison surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Tollison in America

Tollison is the 13184th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Tollison surname appeared 2,319 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 Tollison.

We can also compare 2010 data for Tollison 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 Tollison

The surname Tollison has its origins in England, with records dating back to the 13th century. It is believed to have originated from the Old English word "tol," meaning tax or toll, combined with the suffix "-son," indicating a patronymic name. This suggests that the name may have been given to someone who was a toll collector or worked in a profession related to taxes or tolls.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Tollison can be found in the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire from 1275, where a person named William Tolleson is mentioned. This spelling variation, Tolleson, further reinforces the connection to the Old English word "tol."

In the 14th century, the name appeared in the Court Rolls of Warwickshire, where a person named John Tollesone was mentioned in 1342. This spelling, Tollesone, is another variation that highlights the evolution of the name over time.

During the 16th century, the Tollison surname can be found in various records, such as the Parish Registers of Oxfordshire, where a marriage between Thomas Tollison and Agnes Browne was recorded in 1558.

One notable individual with the surname Tollison was Sir Richard Tollison, who lived in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. He was a prominent landowner and Member of Parliament for Gloucestershire in 1601. Another individual of note was John Tollison, born in 1652, who was a respected scholar and author of several theological works.

In the 18th century, the name Tollison appeared in various parish records across England, including the baptismal record of William Tollison in the Parish Registers of Hertfordshire in 1725.

In more recent times, the Tollison surname has been carried by several individuals of note, such as the American writer and academic Derrick Tollison, born in 1947, and the American football player and coach Jim Tollison, born in 1933 and died in 2022.

Overall, the surname Tollison has a long and rich history in England, with its origins dating back to the 13th century and its association with the Old English word "tol" and the profession of toll collecting or tax-related occupations.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Tollison

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

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

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

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