# Durham (surname)

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

An English habitational surname from Old English from the city in England.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | place, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 43,635 |
| US rank (2010) | 792 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 7,076 people |
| Change since 2000 | +3.0% (42,365 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈdɝəm/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From Old English Dūnholm, which is from dun (“hill”) + Old Norse holm (“islet, island”). In order to get from Dunholm to Durham, two major processes had to take place. Firstly, the n at the coda of the first syllable, dun, underwent dissimilation. Specifically, by influence of the m in the coda of the following syllable (holm), said n denasalised and lenited to the oral r, thus dur. Secondly, after a weakening of the vowel quality in the more weakly-stressed syllable holm, this ending was misanalysed as the similar-sounding toponymic suffix, -ham, meaning home or farm. Doublet of Duresm and Dunelm.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Durham 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) | 73% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 22% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.2% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.4% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.6% |
| Two or more races | 2.2% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Durham in the United States and the United Kingdom.

## People named Durham

- Edith Durham, British artist (1863-1944)
- Jimmie Durham, American artist (1940–2021)
- Rhea Durham, American model
- Eddie Durham, American musician (1906-1987)
- David Anthony Durham, American writer
- William Howard Durham, American preacher and theologian (1873–1912)

## Similar surnames

Duran, Drum, Doran, Dorn, Duron, Drown, Duren, Drumm, Drain, Derouen, Drane, Doiron.

## 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.