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The surname Fortescue

A surname, carried by 201 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈfɔɹtəskjuː/ 2 syllables Soundex F632

Fortescue: #91,625 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#10Martinez#100Jimenez#1,000Archer#10,001Dubon Fortescue #91,625, 201 people Fortescue: #91,625 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#100Jimenez#10,001Dubon Fortescue #91,625, 201 people
Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Fortescue is more common than 43.5% of them.

Origin

From Anglo-Norman Fortescu, from Old Northern French Fort-Escu, from Old French fort + escut. Literally, “strong shield”.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 201 people named Fortescue in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 1,536,047 Americans. That is up 3.6% since 2000, when the Census counted 194.

#91,625
rank among US surnames
201
people in 2010
0.1
per 100,000 Americans
+3.6%
change since 2000 (was #88,825)

Who is named Fortescue

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

95% of people named Fortescue identified as white (not Hispanic), 2.5% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

  • White (not Hispanic) 95%
  • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.5%
The Census suppresses very small shares to protect privacy; Asian & Pacific Islander, Multiracial are not shown.

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Fortescues

2 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

  • Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale
    British artist (1872-1945)
  • Michael Fortescue
    British-born linguist, born 1946

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Fortescue

Fortescue has the Soundex code F632, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code F632.

Questions

Where does the surname Fortescue come from?
From Anglo-Norman Fortescu, from Old Northern French Fort-Escu, from Old French fort + escut. Literally, “strong shield”.
How common is the surname Fortescue?
201 people in the United States had the surname Fortescue in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 1,536,047 Americans. It ranked 91,625th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Fortescue?
In the 2010 Census, 95% of people named Fortescue identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.5% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
Who is the most famous person named Fortescue?
Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale, British artist (1872-1945), followed by Michael Fortescue.
Where is the surname Fortescue most common?
Wikidata records people named Fortescue in the United Kingdom.
How do you pronounce Fortescue?
Fortescue is /ˈfɔɹtəskjuː/, 2 syllables.
Is the surname Fortescue getting more or less common?
More common. 194 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 201 in 2010, up 3.6%.
Is Fortescue also a first name?
Yes. Fortescue is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.