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

Uy, 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 Uy surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Uy in America

Uy is the 9003rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Uy surname appeared 3,633 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 Uy.

We can also compare 2010 data for Uy 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 Uy

The surname "Uy" has its origins in the Netherlands, where it first appeared in the 16th century. It is believed to be derived from the Dutch word "ui," which means "onion." This suggests that the name may have originally referred to someone who grew or sold onions.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name "Uy" is found in the records of the city of Leiden in the year 1578. Here, a man named Pieter Uy is mentioned as being a merchant dealing in textiles. Over the next few centuries, the name began to spread to other parts of the Netherlands, as well as to neighboring regions like Belgium and Germany.

In the 17th century, a notable figure bearing the surname "Uy" was Jan Uy, a Dutch painter who was born in Amsterdam in 1623 and died in 1679. He was known for his landscapes and seascapes, and several of his works can be found in museums across Europe.

Another prominent individual with the name "Uy" was Dirk Uy, a Dutch politician who served as the mayor of the city of Rotterdam in the late 18th century, from 1783 to 1795. He was instrumental in overseeing the city's growth during a period of economic prosperity.

In the 19th century, a Dutch author named Willem Uy gained recognition for his novels and short stories, which often explored themes of rural life and the changing social dynamics of the Netherlands. He was born in 1837 in the small town of Zaandam and passed away in 1912.

As the Dutch started to explore and colonize other parts of the world, the surname "Uy" also made its way to various colonies and settlements. For instance, in the late 19th century, there was a family with the name "Uy" living in the Dutch East Indies, which is now modern-day Indonesia.

While not as common outside of the Netherlands and its former territories, the surname "Uy" can still be found in various parts of the world today, a testament to the global spread of Dutch culture and influence over the centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Uy

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

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

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

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