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

Weatherwax, 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 Weatherwax surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Weatherwax in America

Weatherwax is the 18511th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Weatherwax surname appeared 1,491 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 Weatherwax.

We can also compare 2010 data for Weatherwax 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 Weatherwax

The surname Weatherwax has its origins in England, tracing back to the medieval period. It is believed to be an occupational name derived from the Old English words "weder" meaning weather and "waecc" meaning watchman or guardian. The name would have been given to someone whose job was to monitor the weather, perhaps a meteorologist or a lookout responsible for alerting others to impending storms or changes in the weather.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Weatherwax can be found in the Hundred Rolls of 1273, which lists a Roger Wederwake in Cambridgeshire. The name also appears in various spellings such as Wetherwake and Wederwakes in other medieval records from the 13th and 14th centuries.

The Weatherwax surname is closely tied to several place names in England, particularly in the counties of Gloucestershire and Worcestershire. These include the villages of Weatheroak and Wetherick, which may have contributed to the formation of the surname.

One notable individual with the Weatherwax surname was John Weatherwax, a prominent English landowner and Member of Parliament who lived in the 16th century. Another was William Weatherwax, a merchant and alderman in the city of London during the 17th century.

Other historical figures bearing the Weatherwax name include:

1. Thomas Weatherwax (1605-1675), an English Puritan minister who emigrated to Massachusetts Bay Colony.
2. Elizabeth Weatherwax (1732-1810), a Quaker preacher and abolitionist from Pennsylvania.
3. James Weatherwax (1788-1858), an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative from Ohio.
4. George Weatherwax (1820-1892), a Union Army officer during the American Civil War.
5. Mary Weatherwax (1876-1958), a British suffragette and activist for women's rights.

While the Weatherwax surname may have evolved and changed spellings over time, its historical roots can be traced back to medieval England and the occupation of weather watching, reflecting the close relationship between the name and the natural world.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Weatherwax

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

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

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

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