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

Tubman, 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 Tubman surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Tubman in America

Tubman is the 30013th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Tubman surname appeared 782 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 Tubman.

We can also compare 2010 data for Tubman 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 Tubman

The surname Tubman has its origins in England, with the earliest records dating back to the 13th century. The name is believed to be derived from the Old English word "tun," meaning an enclosure or a village, and the word "mann," meaning a person or an individual. This suggests that the name likely referred to someone who lived in or was associated with a particular village or settlement.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Tubman can be found in the Hundred Rolls of 1273, which were administrative records compiled during the reign of King Edward I. In these rolls, a person named William Tubman is mentioned as a resident of Hertfordshire.

The name Tubman also appears in several medieval manuscripts and records, including the Subsidy Rolls of 1327, where a John Tubman is listed as a taxpayer in Lincolnshire. Additionally, the name is found in the Court Rolls of the Manor of Wakefield in Yorkshire, dating back to the 14th century.

In the 16th century, the Tubman surname was particularly prevalent in the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex in eastern England. One notable individual from this period was Thomas Tubman, who was born in Ipswich, Suffolk, around 1540 and served as a member of the local militia.

During the 17th century, the Tubman name spread to other parts of England, including London and the surrounding areas. A prominent figure from this time was Richard Tubman, a merchant and landowner who lived in the village of Hackney, near London, in the late 1600s.

In the 18th century, the Tubman surname continued to be found in various parts of England, with several individuals bearing the name achieving notable positions. One such person was William Tubman, born in 1728 in Northamptonshire, who became a renowned architect and designed several churches and public buildings in the region.

As the centuries progressed, the Tubman name also made its way across the Atlantic Ocean to the American colonies and, later, the United States. One notable American with this surname was Harriet Tubman, the famous abolitionist and political activist who was born into slavery in Maryland around 1822. Tubman played a crucial role in the Underground Railroad, helping to guide numerous enslaved individuals to freedom in the northern states and Canada.

Other notable individuals with the Tubman surname include John Tubman, a British politician who served as a member of Parliament for Southwark in the late 18th century, and Charles Tubman, an English cricketer who played for the Marylebone Cricket Club in the early 19th century.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Tubman

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

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

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

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