# Mortimer (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/mortimer/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A British surname from Old French.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | French |
| Type | place, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 5,521 |
| US rank (2010) | 6,195 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 55,922 people |
| Change since 2000 | +3.0% (5,358 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈmɔɹtəmɚ/, 3 syllables |
| Variant spellings | Mortymer |

## Etymology

A habitational surname from Mortemer in France, from Old Northern French, literally meaning “dead pond”.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Mortimer in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 87% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 8.2% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.2% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.6% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.3% |
| Two or more races | 1.8% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Mortimer in the United Kingdom, the United States and England.

## People named Mortimer

- Emily Mortimer, British actress
- John Mortimer, British barrister, dramatist, screenwriter and author (1923-2009)
- Edmund Mortimer, actor (1874-1944)
- James Mortimer, American chess player (1833-1911)
- John Hamilton Mortimer, British artist (1740-1779)

## Similar surnames

Morton, Mortensen, Mortenson, Martinez, Martin, Martins, Martino, Martens, Martines, Martini, Martinson, Martindale.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.