# Fordyce (surname)

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

A surname from Scottish Gaelic.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Scottish Gaelic |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 2,638 |
| US rank (2010) | 11,870 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 117,038 people |
| Change since 2000 | +2.5% (2,574 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /fɔɹˈdaɪs/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | Fordice |

## Etymology

Derived from Old Norse *Fordys, from for (“furrow”) + dys (“grave mound, cairn”). The term is often claimed to be a borrowing from Scottish Gaelic or to be derived from Scottish Gaelic in some way, but little evidence supports this.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Fordyce 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) | 92% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 5.2% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 1.5% |
| Two or more races | 1.1% |

## Similar surnames

Fortes, Fritz, Freitas, Fritts, Freitag, Fortson, Fritsch, Fritch, Fritsche, Fertig, Fretz, Frutos.

## 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.