# Abernethy (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/abernethy/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A topographic surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | place, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 2,613 |
| US rank (2010) | 11,960 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 118,157 people |
| Change since 2000 | 0.0% (2,612 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | Abernathy |

## Etymology

The first part of the name, Aber, is thought to be a Pictish word meaning "confluence," from Proto-Brythonic *aber + the name Nethy, a river in Scotland.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Abernethy in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 93% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 3.0% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 1.9% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.7% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.2% |
| Two or more races | 1.5% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Abernethy in Australia and the United States.

## People named Abernethy

- Burgess Abernethy, actor
- Tom Abernethy, American basketball player (born 1954)

## Similar surnames

Abernathy, Abraham, Abrams, Abram, Abramson, Abrahamson, Abrahams, Abramowitz, Abramov, Abron, Abramo, Abramovich.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.