How common is the surname Means?

16,203 people in the United States had the surname Means in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 19,055 Americans. It ranked 2,247th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Means?

Tatanka Means, American actor, followed by Rice W. Means.

Where is the surname Means most common?

Wikidata records people named Means in the United States.

Is the surname Means getting more or less common?

More common. 15,808 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 16,203 in 2010, up 2.5%.

The surname Means

A French place surname, carried by 16,203 people in the United States.

1 syllable Soundex M520

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Means is more common than 98.6% of them.

Origin

French origin

Various origins: * Reduced form of McMeans, a surname of Irish origin. * Habitational surname from the villages of East and West Meon, in Hampshire. * A nickname from Middle English mene (“inferior in rank”), which is from Old English ġemǣne (“common, general”), or Middle English mene (“moderate in behaviour”), which is from Old French mëen, mean.

Means is a place surname: taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.

One of 791 French surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 16,203 people named Means in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 19,055 Americans. That is up 2.5% since 2000, when the Census counted 15,808.

#2,247

rank among US surnames

16,203

people in 2010

5.5

per 100,000 Americans

+2.5%

change since 2000 (was #2,107)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#2,238	Ahmad	16,291	18,952
#2,239	Parr	16,286	18,958
#2,240	Montanez	16,281	18,964
#2,241	Aaron	16,276	18,969
#2,242	Clinton	16,263	18,985
#2,243	Woodall	16,260	18,988
#2,244	Marcum	16,246	19,004

Who is named Means

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

64% of people named Means identified as white (not Hispanic), 29% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.4% as two or more races.

White (not Hispanic) 64%
Black (not Hispanic) 29%
Two or more races 2.4%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.4%
American Indian and Alaska Native 1.6%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.6%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Meanss

3 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Tatanka Means
American actor, born 1985
Rice W. Means
American Politician and Ku Klux Klan member (1877-1949)
Casey Means
American physician and author (born 1987)

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Means

Means has the Soundex code M520, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code M520.

Other French surnames

All 791 French surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Means come from?: Various origins: * Reduced form of McMeans, a surname of Irish origin. * Habitational surname from the villages of East and West Meon, in Hampshire. * A nickname from Middle English mene (“inferior in rank”), which is from Old English ġemǣne (“common, general”), or Middle English mene (“moderate…
How common is the surname Means?: 16,203 people in the United States had the surname Means in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 19,055 Americans. It ranked 2,247th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Means?: In the 2010 Census, 64% of people named Means identified as white (not Hispanic), and 29% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Means?: Tatanka Means, American actor, followed by Rice W. Means.
Where is the surname Means most common?: Wikidata records people named Means in the United States.
What type of surname is Means?: Means is a place surname, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.
Is the surname Means getting more or less common?: More common. 15,808 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 16,203 in 2010, up 2.5%.