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

Youngs, 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 Youngs surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Youngs in America

Youngs is the 6776th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Youngs surname appeared 4,977 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Youngs.

We can also compare 2010 data for Youngs 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 Youngs

The surname Youngs originated in England and is derived from the Old English word "geong" or "iung", meaning "young" or "youth". It is believed to have been initially used as a nickname for a young person or to differentiate between a father and son with the same given name.

The name can be traced back to the 12th century, with one of the earliest recorded instances being in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as "Iunga" and "Iunge". These early spellings indicate the name's evolution from its Old English roots.

During the Middle Ages, the surname was primarily found in the counties of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and Norfolk, where it was commonly used to distinguish individuals within small communities. It is believed that the name may have been derived from the Old English place name "Iungabyrig", which later became Youngs-bury or Youngs-borough.

Notable individuals with the surname Youngs include Sir Peter Youngs (1544-1619), a wealthy merchant and benefactor from Norwich, England, who served as the city's mayor in 1605. Another prominent figure was Sir William Youngs (1693-1751), a British naval officer and Member of Parliament.

In the literary world, Edward Youngs (1683-1765), an English poet and playwright, is best known for his work "Night Thoughts", a series of poems exploring mortality and immortality. His contemporaries included Thomas Youngs (1773-1829), a British mathematician and physician who contributed significantly to the study of optics and the wave theory of light.

Moving into the 19th century, Brigham Youngs (1801-1877) was an influential leader of the Latter-day Saint movement and the founder of Salt Lake City, Utah. His legacy lives on in the Brigham Young University, one of the largest private universities in the United States.

Other notable figures with the Youngs surname include Sir George Youngs (1819-1905), a British civil engineer responsible for designing and constructing the Forth Bridge in Scotland, and Charles Youngs (1834-1908), an American baseball pioneer who helped establish the first professional baseball team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Youngs

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

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

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

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