How common is the surname Melville?

4,355 people in the United States had the surname Melville in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 70,894 Americans. It ranked 7,623rd of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Melville?

Herman Melville, American writer and poet (1819–1891), followed by Sam Melville.

Where is the surname Melville most common?

Wikidata records people named Melville in the United States and Australia.

Is the surname Melville getting more or less common?

More common. 4,119 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 4,355 in 2010, up 5.7%.

Is Melville also a first name?

Yes. Melville 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 Melville

A French place surname, carried by 4,355 people in the United States.

2 syllables Soundex M414

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Melville is more common than 95.3% of them.

Origin

French origin

A Scottish habitational surname from Old French of Norman origin, from Malleville in Normandy.

Melville 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 4,355 people named Melville in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 70,894 Americans. That is up 5.7% since 2000, when the Census counted 4,119.

#7,623

rank among US surnames

4,355

people in 2010

1.5

per 100,000 Americans

+5.7%

change since 2000 (was #7,449)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#7,614	Kasten	4,366	70,716
#7,616	Malin	4,365	70,732
#7,617	Colston	4,363	70,765
#7,618	Snapp	4,360	70,813
#7,619	Alas	4,358	70,846
#7,620	Bottoms	4,357	70,862
#7,621	Jager	4,356	70,878

Who is named Melville

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

82% of people named Melville identified as white (not Hispanic), 11% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.5% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 82%
Black (not Hispanic) 11%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.5%
Two or more races 1.8%
Asian and Pacific Islander 1.3%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.7%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Melvilles

3 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Herman Melville
American writer and poet (1819–1891)
Sam Melville
American actor (1936–1989)
Kerry Reid
Australian tennis player, born 1947

Notable Melvilles come mostly from the United States (2) and Australia (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Melville

Mulvihill

Melville has the Soundex code M414, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code M414.

Other French surnames

All 791 French surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Melville come from?: Melville is French in origin.
How common is the surname Melville?: 4,355 people in the United States had the surname Melville in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 70,894 Americans. It ranked 7,623rd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Melville?: In the 2010 Census, 82% of people named Melville identified as white (not Hispanic), and 11% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Melville?: Herman Melville, American writer and poet (1819–1891), followed by Sam Melville.
Where is the surname Melville most common?: Wikidata records people named Melville in the United States and Australia.
What type of surname is Melville?: Melville is a place surname, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.
Is the surname Melville getting more or less common?: More common. 4,119 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 4,355 in 2010, up 5.7%.
Is Melville also a first name?: Yes. Melville 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.