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

Twigg, 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 Twigg surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Twigg in America

Twigg is the 10015th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Twigg surname appeared 3,219 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 Twigg.

We can also compare 2010 data for Twigg 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 Twigg

The surname Twigg has its origins in England, emerging in the 12th century as a descriptive name for someone who lived near a forked or twisted tree branch. It is derived from the Old English word "twigg," meaning a forked branch or a flexible twig.

The earliest known record of the name dates back to the Pipe Rolls of Oxfordshire in 1195, where a person named Osbert Twigg is mentioned. Another early reference is found in the Assize Rolls of Staffordshire in 1273, which mentions a William Twyg.

During the Middle Ages, the name was primarily concentrated in the counties of Lancashire, Cheshire, and Staffordshire, where it was closely associated with the rural landscape and agricultural communities. The name was often spelled in various ways, including Twyg, Twig, and Twigge, reflecting the regional dialects of the time.

One notable bearer of the name was John Twigg, a 16th-century English landowner and yeoman from Cheshire, who was recorded in the Cheshire Lay Subsidy Rolls of 1541. Another was Thomas Twigg, born in 1587 in Nantwich, Cheshire, who was a prominent merchant and alderman in the city.

In the 17th century, the name appeared in the records of the Hearth Tax of Cheshire in 1664, where several families with the surname Twigg were listed as taxpayers. During this period, the name also spread to other parts of England, including Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Twigg in North America dates back to the late 17th century, when John Twigg, born in 1676 in Cheshire, England, immigrated to Virginia and settled in what is now Twigg County, Georgia.

Another notable figure was Sir John Twigg, born in 1819 in Lancashire, who was a British military officer and served in the Crimean War. He was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest military honor in the British Empire, for his bravery during the Battle of Inkerman in 1854.

Other notable individuals with the surname Twigg include William Twigg, a 19th-century English cricketer who played for Lancashire County Cricket Club, and John Twigg, a 20th-century British actor who appeared in several films and television shows.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Twigg

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

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

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

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