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

Wetmore, 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 Wetmore surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Wetmore in America

Wetmore is the 10228th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Wetmore surname appeared 3,152 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 Wetmore.

We can also compare 2010 data for Wetmore 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 Wetmore

The surname Wetmore is of English origin and can be traced back to the 13th century. It is believed to have derived from the Old English words 'waet' meaning wet and 'mor' meaning moor or marsh, likely referring to someone who lived near a wetland or marshy area.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Wetmore appears in the Hundredorum Rolls of Oxfordshire in 1273, where it is listed as 'Wettemore'. The Hundredorum Rolls were administrative records compiled during the reign of King Edward I.

In the 14th century, the name was also found in various forms such as 'Watmore', 'Whetmore', and 'Whytmore' in various records across different counties in England, including Yorkshire, Worcestershire, and Somerset.

The Wetmore family established roots in several regions of England, including Oxfordshire, where they held lands and properties for several centuries. One notable member of the family was Sir Thomas Wetmore (1555-1636), a prominent landowner and Member of Parliament for Woodstock in the early 17th century.

Another important figure bearing the Wetmore surname was Reverend Thomas Wetmore (1672-1746), an Anglican clergyman and educator who served as the headmaster of Eton College from 1720 to 1735.

In the 16th century, the name Wetmore was also found in the records of the nearby village of Withington, which was formerly known as 'Wettemore Inge' or 'Wetmore Inge', likely derived from the surname itself.

As the Wetmore family spread across England, some members eventually migrated to the American colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries. One notable early settler was Thomas Wetmore (1605-1670), who arrived in Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1635 and became a prominent figure in the Connecticut River Valley.

Other notable individuals with the Wetmore surname include William Bache Wetmore (1801-1862), an American businessman and philanthropist who co-founded the Astor Library in New York City, and George Peabody Wetmore (1846-1921), a prominent American lawyer and politician who served as the 45th Governor of Rhode Island from 1917 to 1921.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Wetmore

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

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

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

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