Find out how popular the last name Witherite is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Witherite.
A toponymic surname derived from a place name containing the Old English element "wither" meaning to twist or bend.
Witherite, 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 Witherite surname is from the 2010 census data.
Witherite is the 47107th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.
The Witherite surname appeared 451 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Witherite.
We can also compare 2010 data for Witherite 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.
| 2010 | 2000 | Change (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 47107 | 50686 | -7.32% |
| Count | 451 | 387 | 15.27% |
| Proportion per 100k | 0.15 | 0.14 | 6.90% |
The surname Witherite is of English origin, tracing back to at least the medieval period. The name is likely locational, derived from "Witheridge" in Devon, a place name that means "wether-ridge" or "ridge where sheep graze." Witheridge itself comes from the Old English words "wether," meaning sheep, and "hrycg," meaning ridge. The earliest forms of the name are seen around the 12th and 13th centuries, when surnames began to stabilize in England.
Historical records of the name Witherite are sparse but significant. One of the earliest mentions of the name in recorded history appears in the 1327 Subsidy Rolls of Devon, where a John de Wytheryg was listed. Another notable mention is found in the 1379 Poll Tax returns for Yorkshire, recording a Thomas Witheryt, indicating the name had begun to spread beyond its original locality.
In the centuries that followed, the name Witherite continued to appear sporadically in various documents. A marriage record from 1585 in the parish registers of St. Mary's Church in Witheridge mentions a George Withright, displaying an evolution in spelling. The Witherite name is also found in military records from the English Civil War, where a Captain Richard Witherite served under the Parliamentary forces around the 1640s.
The Witherite surname has seen various spellings throughout history, including Withright, Wetheright, and Wytheryt. One of the prominent figures bearing the name was Samuel Witherite (1689–1744), a noted landowner and justice of the peace in Devon. Additionally, a Tobias Witherite served as an apprentice to a prominent London silversmith in 1732, indicating the name's presence in urban areas by the early 18th century.
In the field of science, John Witherite (1786–1859) was a renowned mineralogist who contributed to the early studies of barium minerals, although his connection to the Witherite mineral is coincidental and not etymological.
By the 19th century, the name had migrated beyond England, with records indicating a Robert Witherite immigrated to Australia in 1843 as part of the economic migrations from Britain. Such instances highlight the global dispersal of the surname beyond its English roots.
Overall, the surname Witherite reflects a rich history rooted in medieval England, evolving through centuries and adapting to various phonetic changes while contributing figures to both local and broader histories.
We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Witherite.
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:
For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Witherite was:
| Race/Ethnicity | Percentage | Total Occurrences |
|---|---|---|
| Non-Hispanic White Only | 97.78% | 441 |
| Non-Hispanic Black Only | 0.00% | 0 |
| Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only | (S)% | (S) |
| Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native | (S)% | (S) |
| Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races | (S)% | (S) |
| Hispanic Origin | (S)% | (S) |
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 Witherite has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.
| 2010 | 2000 | Change (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 97.78% | 97.93% | -0.15% |
| Black | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | (S)% | (S)% | (S)% |
| American Indian and Alaskan Native | (S)% | (S)% | (S)% |
| Two or More Races | (S)% | (S)% | (S)% |
| Hispanic | (S)% | (S)% | (S)% |
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 Witherite was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.
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