How common is the surname Lyman?

11,664 people in the United States had the surname Lyman in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 26,470 Americans. It ranked 3,079th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Lyman?

Theodore Lyman, American physicist (1874–1954), followed by Will Lyman.

Where is the surname Lyman most common?

Wikidata records people named Lyman in the United States.

How do you pronounce Lyman?

Lyman is /ˈlaɪ.mən/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname Lyman getting more or less common?

More common. 11,465 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 11,664 in 2010, up 1.7%.

Is Lyman also a first name?

Yes. Lyman 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 Lyman

A surname, carried by 11,664 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈlaɪ.mən/ 2 syllables Soundex L550 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). Lyman is more common than 98.1% of them.

Origin

A surname.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 11,664 people named Lyman in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 26,470 Americans. That is up 1.7% since 2000, when the Census counted 11,465.

#3,079

rank among US surnames

11,664

people in 2010

4.0

per 100,000 Americans

+1.7%

change since 2000 (was #2,875)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#3,070	Godoy	11,690	26,411
#3,071	Carl	11,689	26,413
#3,072	Hildebrand	11,687	26,418
#3,073	Merino	11,684	26,425
#3,074	Rawls	11,679	26,436
#3,075	Rao	11,672	26,452
#3,076	Mello	11,670	26,456

Who is named Lyman

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

89% of people named Lyman identified as white (not Hispanic), 3.8% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.7% as two or more races.

White (not Hispanic) 89%
Black (not Hispanic) 3.8%
Two or more races 2.7%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.5%
Asian and Pacific Islander 1.5%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.9%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Lymans

5 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Theodore Lyman
American physicist (1874–1954)
Will Lyman
American actor, born 1948
Dorothy Lyman
American actress and director, born 1947
Howard Lyman
American farmer and animal rights activist (1938–2026)
William R. Lyman
American football player (1898-1972)

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Lymon
Liman

Surnames that sound like Lyman

Lyman has the Soundex code L550, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code L550.

Questions

How common is the surname Lyman?: 11,664 people in the United States had the surname Lyman in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 26,470 Americans. It ranked 3,079th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Lyman?: In the 2010 Census, 89% of people named Lyman identified as white (not Hispanic), and 3.8% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Lyman?: Theodore Lyman, American physicist (1874–1954), followed by Will Lyman.
Where is the surname Lyman most common?: Wikidata records people named Lyman in the United States.
How do you pronounce Lyman?: Lyman is /ˈlaɪ.mən/, 2 syllables.
Is the surname Lyman getting more or less common?: More common. 11,465 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 11,664 in 2010, up 1.7%.
What are other spellings of Lyman?: Lymon and Liman.
Is Lyman also a first name?: Yes. Lyman 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.