# North (surname)

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

A surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | patronymic, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 20,343 |
| US rank (2010) | 1,766 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 15,177 people |
| Change since 2000 | +0.5% (20,238 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /nɔː(ɹ)θ/, 1 syllable |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

By proprialization from north. The English surname is also translated from other surnames of the same meaning, such as Irish Mac an Ultaigh (“son of the Ulsterman”), Ulster being the northern part of Ireland.

## Who carries it

Share of people named North 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) | 85% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 9.4% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.3% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.7% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.6% |
| Two or more races | 1.8% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named North in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

## People named North

- Douglass North, American economist and Nobel laureate (1920–2015)
- Jade North, Australian footballer (born 1982)
- Nolan North, American voice actor (born 1970)
- Alex North, American composer (1910–1991)
- Oliver North, American political commentator
- Sheree North, American actress, dancer, and singer (1932-2005)
- Jay North, American actor (1951–2025)
- Austin North, American actor, born 1996
- Alan North, American actor (1920–2000)
- Heather North, American actress (1945-2017)
- Aaron North, American guitarist
- Alfred John North, Australian ornithologist (1855–1917)

and 9 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Northey, Nord, Norwood, Nardi, Newhart, Norred, Neuwirth.

## 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.