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

Tracy, 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 Tracy surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Tracy in America

Tracy is the 1180th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Tracy surname appeared 29,867 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 10 people would have the surname Tracy.

We can also compare 2010 data for Tracy 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 Tracy

The surname Tracy is of Norman French origin, deriving from the French town of Trassé in Normandy. It first emerged in England following the Norman Conquest of 1066, when many Norman families settled in various regions of the country.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as "Traci" and "Tracey". These entries likely refer to individuals who hailed from the town of Trassé or its surrounding areas.

In the 12th century, the name was often spelled as "Tracey" or "Tracye". During this period, it was particularly prevalent in the counties of Gloucestershire and Somerset, where several notable families bore this surname.

One of the most prominent figures bearing the Tracy name was William de Tracy, a Norman knight who was one of the four assassins of Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1170. This event garnered significant historical attention and cemented the Tracy name in the annals of English history.

In the 13th century, the name also took on the form "Tracy" or "Tracy", reflecting the evolving spelling conventions of the time. One notable bearer of this variant was Henry de Tracy, who served as Lord Chancellor of England from 1265 to 1267.

During the late Middle Ages, the Tracy family established themselves as landed gentry in various parts of England, including Gloucestershire, Somerset, and Devonshire. The town of Toddington in Gloucestershire was once the seat of the ancient Tracy family, and the nearby village of Tracy derived its name from them.

Other notable individuals with the surname Tracy include:

1. Ursula Tracy (c. 1555-1609), an English noblewoman and Catholic recusant.
2. Sir John Tracy (1557-1637), an English politician and landowner.
3. Robert Tracy (1655-1735), an English philosopher and Anglican priest.
4. Nathaniel Tracy (1751-1796), an American military officer who served in the Revolutionary War.
5. Benjamin Franklin Tracy (1830-1915), an American lawyer and politician who served as Secretary of the Navy under President Benjamin Harrison.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Tracy

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

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

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

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