How common is the surname Down?

1,112 people in the United States had the surname Down in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 277,649 Americans. It ranked 22,989th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Down?

Lesley-Anne Down, British actress, followed by Elissa Down.

Where is the surname Down most common?

Wikidata records people named Down in the United Kingdom and Australia.

Is the surname Down getting more or less common?

Less common. 1,204 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 1,112 in 2010, down 7.6%.

The surname Down

A surname, carried by 1,112 people in the United States.

Pronounced /daʊn/ 1 syllable Soundex D500

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Down is more common than 85.8% of them.

Origin

From Irish dún (“fortress, stronghold”).

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 1,112 people named Down in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 277,649 Americans. That is down 7.6% since 2000, when the Census counted 1,204.

#22,989

rank among US surnames

1,112

people in 2010

0.4

per 100,000 Americans

-7.6%

change since 2000 (was #20,484)

Who is named Down

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

90% of people named Down identified as white (not Hispanic), 3.6% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.6% as two or more races.

White (not Hispanic) 90%
Black (not Hispanic) 3.6%
Two or more races 2.6%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 1.7%
Asian and Pacific Islander 1.7%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.6%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Downs

2 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Lesley-Anne Down
British actress, born 1954
Elissa Down
Australian film director, born 1975

Notable Downs come mostly from the United Kingdom (1) and Australia (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Down

Down has the Soundex code D500, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code D500.

Questions

Where does the surname Down come from?: From Irish dún (“fortress, stronghold”).
How common is the surname Down?: 1,112 people in the United States had the surname Down in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 277,649 Americans. It ranked 22,989th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Down?: In the 2010 Census, 90% of people named Down identified as white (not Hispanic), and 3.6% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Down?: Lesley-Anne Down, British actress, followed by Elissa Down.
Where is the surname Down most common?: Wikidata records people named Down in the United Kingdom and Australia.
How do you pronounce Down?: Down is /daʊn/, one syllable.
Is the surname Down getting more or less common?: Less common. 1,204 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 1,112 in 2010, down 7.6%.