# Abney (surname)

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

A habitational surname from Old English.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | English |
| Type | place, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 9,948 |
| US rank (2010) | 3,579 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 31,036 people |
| Change since 2000 | +2.1% (9,743 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From the genitive form of the Old English personal name Abba + īeġ (“island”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Abney 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) | 69% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 26% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.3% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.3% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.4% |
| Two or more races | 1.9% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Abney in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the United States.

## People named Abney

- William de Wiveleslie Abney, British astronomer, chemist and photographer (1843–1920)
- Don Abney, American musician (1923-2000)

## Similar surnames

Avina, Aubin, Avon.

## 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.