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

Tracey, 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 Tracey surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Tracey in America

Tracey is the 4359th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Tracey surname appeared 8,152 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 Tracey.

We can also compare 2010 data for Tracey 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 Tracey

The surname Tracey is of English origin, derived from the Old French place name "Tracy" or "Traci." This place name is thought to come from the Latin word "trajectus," meaning "crossing" or "ford." The name likely referred to someone who lived near a river crossing or ford.

The earliest recorded instances of the Tracey surname date back to the 11th century in Normandy, France. The name appears in the Domesday Book of 1086, which was a survey of land ownership in England commissioned by William the Conqueror. This suggests that the Tracey family was among the Norman nobility who accompanied William during the Norman Conquest of England in 1066.

One of the earliest recorded individuals with the Tracey surname was Henry de Tracy, who lived in the late 11th century. He was a Norman nobleman and one of the four knights involved in the infamous murder of Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1170.

Another notable figure was William de Tracy, a 13th-century English nobleman and crusader. He participated in the Fifth and Sixth Crusades and was appointed as the Lord Deputy of Ireland in 1275.

In the 14th century, Sir John Tracey was a prominent English knight and military commander during the Hundred Years' War. He served under King Edward III and was appointed as the Constable of the Tower of London in 1338.

During the 16th century, Sir John Tracey was an English judge and politician who served as the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland from 1594 to 1598.

In the 17th century, Sir Robert Tracey was an English soldier and politician who fought for the Royalist cause during the English Civil War. He was born in 1592 and died in 1669.

The Tracey surname has also been associated with various place names in England, such as Tracey near Awliscombe in Devon, and Tracy-sur-Mer in Normandy, France. Variations in spelling include Tracy, Tracye, and Tracye.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Tracey

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

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

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Tracey, 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!