# Flanders (surname)

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

A surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Norman |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 8,787 |
| US rank (2010) | 4,043 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 35,137 people |
| Change since 2000 | +6.0% (8,291 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈflæn.dəɹz/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From Middle English Flaundres, from Anglo-Norman Flaundre, Flaundres, from Middle Dutch Vlâendren pl, from Vlander, from Old Frisian, from Proto-West Germanic *flaumdr (“waterlogged land”), from *flaum (“flowing, current (water)”) (compare Old High German weraltfloum (“transitoriness of life”), Old Norse flaumr (“eddy”)), from Proto-Indo-European *plow-m- (“flow”) (compare Ancient Greek πλῠ́μα (plŭ́ma, “dishwater, washing water”)). More at flow. "Waterlogged" refers to the mudflats and salt marshes common to coastal Flanders.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Flanders 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) | 85% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 9.3% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.7% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.6% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.5% |
| Two or more races | 1.6% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Flanders in the United States and Belgium.

## People named Flanders

- Ed Flanders, American actor (1934–1995)
- Ralph Flanders, American engineer, industrialist, and politician (1880–1970)
- Benjamin Flanders, American politician (1816-1896)
- Holly Flanders, American alpine skier
- Jean Ray, Belgian writer (1887–1964)

## Similar surnames

Foland, Flint, Flynt.

## 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.