2000
#13,019
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,159
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.80
Rare Last name
Washam
Derived from a place name meaning "settlement by a wash or marsh" in Old English.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,409 Americans carry the last name Washam. That puts it at #13,781 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.70 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 142,281 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Washam surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
2.4K
1 in 142,281
Census rank
#13,781
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.1K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,101 bearers of the surname Washam in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.70 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 13781st position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Washam, the largest self-reported group is White at 82.2%. The next largest groups are Black (9.6%) and Two or More Races (4.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Washam
The surname Washam has its origins rooted in England, tracing back to the 12th century. It is believed to have derived from the Old English words "wæsce" meaning "to wash" and "ham" meaning "homestead" or "village." This suggests that the name may have originally referred to someone who resided near a place where washing or laundering activities took place.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the Washam surname can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Staffordshire, dated 1195, where a certain Robert de Washam is listed as a landowner. This document provides evidence of the name's existence during the Middle Ages in England.
The name Washam has also been linked to various place names in England, such as Washam in Worcestershire and Washingborough in Lincolnshire. These place names likely influenced the spelling and pronunciation of the surname over time.
Notable individuals bearing the Washam surname throughout history include:
1. Sir John Washam (c. 1480-1554), an English landowner and Member of Parliament for Somerset during the reign of King Henry VIII.
2. Thomas Washam (1590-1668), an English clergyman and author who served as the Rector of Brightwell Baldwin in Oxfordshire.
3. Elizabeth Washam (1625-1693), a Quaker preacher and writer from Massachusetts Bay Colony, known for her religious pamphlets and her advocacy for women's rights in the Quaker community.
4. Richard Washam (1731-1805), a British architect who designed several notable buildings in London, including the St. Katharine's Church and the Royal Mint.
5. William Washam (1819-1887), an English industrialist and philanthropist who founded the Washam Textile Mills in Manchester and contributed significantly to the development of the city's textile industry.
Throughout the centuries, the Washam surname has undergone various spelling variations, such as Wassham, Wasseham, and Wassingham, reflecting the regional dialects and linguistic changes that occurred over time.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Washam
Among Census respondents with the surname Washam, the largest self-reported group is White at 82.2%. The next largest groups are Black (9.6%) and Two or More Races (4.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Washam bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Washam surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.2% · 1,728
- Black or African American9.6% · 202
- Two or more races4.8% · 100
- Hispanic or Latino1.9% · 39
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 19
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 13
Timeline
Historical Census data for Washam
Washam appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#13,153
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,327
+168 bearers (+7.8%)
Per 100,000 0.79
Rank movement Down 134 places
2020
#13,781
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,101
-226 bearers (-9.7%)
Per 100,000 0.70
Rank movement Down 628 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #13,019 | 2,159 | 0.80 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #13,153 | 2,327 | 0.79 | +168 bearers (+7.8%) | Down 134 places |
| 2020 | #13,781 | 2,101 | 0.70 | -226 bearers (-9.7%) | Down 628 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Washam surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #13,153 | #13,781 | -4.8% |
| Count | 2,327 | 2,101 | -9.7% |
| Per 100K | 0.79 | 0.70 | -11.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Washam bearers went from 2,327 to 2,101 (-9.7% change). The surname moved down 628 positions in the national ranking, going from #13,153 to #13,781.
FAQ
Washam surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Washam?
Name Census estimates that about 2,409 living Americans carry the surname Washam. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 142,281 residents.
How common is Washam?
Washam ranks #13,781 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.70 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,101 people with the surname Washam. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,409), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.7 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.70 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Washam.
Has Washam become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Washam went from 2,327 recorded bearers to 2,101. That is a decrease of 226 (-9.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #13,153 to #13,781.
What does the Census say about the background of Washam?
Among Census respondents with the surname Washam, the largest self-reported group is White at 82.2%. The next largest groups are Black (9.6%) and Two or More Races (4.8%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Washam in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.2% (1,728 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Washam appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (82.2%), Black (9.6%), Two or More Races (4.8%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Washam (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Washam mean?
Derived from a place name meaning "settlement by a wash or marsh" in Old English. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Washam (0.70 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the last name Washam?
Want to know how many Americans have the surname Washam? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.