How common is the surname Lance?

13,122 people in the United States had the surname Lance in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 23,529 Americans. It ranked 2,747th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Lance?

Keisha Lance Bottoms, American politician (born 1970), followed by Leonard Lance.

Where is the surname Lance most common?

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

How do you pronounce Lance?

Lance is /læns/, one syllable.

Is the surname Lance getting more or less common?

More common. 12,700 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 13,122 in 2010, up 3.3%.

Is Lance also a first name?

Yes. Lance 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.

The surname Lance

A patronymic surname, carried by 13,122 people in the United States.

Pronounced /læns/ 1 syllable Soundex L520 Also a first name

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Lance is more common than 98.3% of them.

Origin

The surname is derived from a medieval given name Lanzo, short form of names beginning with the Germanic element *land; see land. Doublet of Lanzo.

Lance is a patronymic surname: formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 13,122 people named Lance in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 23,529 Americans. That is up 3.3% since 2000, when the Census counted 12,700.

#2,747

rank among US surnames

13,122

people in 2010

4.5

per 100,000 Americans

+3.3%

change since 2000 (was #2,618)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#2,738	Fabian	13,161	23,459
#2,739	Bouchard	13,154	23,472
#2,740	Chun	13,141	23,495
#2,741	Markham	13,137	23,502
#2,742	Zeigler	13,135	23,506
#2,743	Leavitt	13,133	23,509
#2,745	Ely	13,130	23,515

Who is named Lance

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

86% of people named Lance identified as white (not Hispanic), 7.9% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.5% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 86%
Black (not Hispanic) 7.9%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.5%
Two or more races 1.7%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.9%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.7%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Lances

4 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Keisha Lance Bottoms
American politician (born 1970)
Leonard Lance
American politician, born 1952
James Lance
British actor, born 1974
Trey Lance
American football player (born 2000)

Notable Lances come mostly from the United States (3) and the United Kingdom (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Lance

Lance has the Soundex code L520, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code L520.

Questions

Where does the surname Lance come from?: The surname is derived from a medieval given name Lanzo, short form of names beginning with the Germanic element *land; see land. Doublet of Lanzo.
How common is the surname Lance?: 13,122 people in the United States had the surname Lance in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 23,529 Americans. It ranked 2,747th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Lance?: In the 2010 Census, 86% of people named Lance identified as white (not Hispanic), and 7.9% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Lance?: Keisha Lance Bottoms, American politician (born 1970), followed by Leonard Lance.
Where is the surname Lance most common?: Wikidata records people named Lance in the United States and the United Kingdom.
How do you pronounce Lance?: Lance is /læns/, one syllable.
What type of surname is Lance?: Lance is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
Is the surname Lance getting more or less common?: More common. 12,700 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 13,122 in 2010, up 3.3%.
Is Lance also a first name?: Yes. Lance 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.