The surname North
A patronymic surname, carried by 20,343 people in the United States.
Pronounced /nɔː(ɹ)θ/ 1 syllable Soundex N630
Origin
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.
North is a patronymic surname: formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How common it is
2010 US Census
There were 20,343 people named North in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 15,177 Americans. That is about the same as in 2000, when the Census counted 20,238.
Who is named North
Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census
85% of people named North identified as white (not Hispanic), 9.4% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.3% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
- White (not Hispanic) 85%
- Black (not Hispanic) 9.4%
- Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.3%
- Two or more races 1.8%
- Asian and Pacific Islander 0.7%
- American Indian and Alaska Native 0.6%
Famous Norths
21 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first
- Douglass NorthAmerican economist and Nobel laureate (1920–2015)
- Jade NorthAustralian footballer (born 1982)
- Nolan NorthAmerican voice actor (born 1970)
- Alex NorthAmerican composer (1910–1991)
- Oliver NorthAmerican political commentator, born 1943
- Sheree NorthAmerican actress, dancer, and singer (1932-2005)
- Jay NorthAmerican actor (1951–2025)
- Austin NorthAmerican actor, born 1996
- Alan NorthAmerican actor (1920–2000)
- Heather NorthAmerican actress (1945-2017)
- Aaron NorthAmerican guitarist, born 1979
- Alfred John NorthAustralian ornithologist (1855–1917)
Notable Norths come mostly from the United States (17), Australia (3) and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1).
Spellings and sound-alikes
Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling
North has the Soundex code N630, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code N630.
Questions
- Where does the surname North come from?
- 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.
- How common is the surname North?
- 20,343 people in the United States had the surname North in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 15,177 Americans. It ranked 1,766th of 162,253 surnames.
- What ethnicity is the surname North?
- In the 2010 Census, 85% of people named North identified as white (not Hispanic), and 9.4% as Black (not Hispanic).
- Who is the most famous person named North?
- Douglass North, American economist and Nobel laureate (1920–2015), followed by Jade North.
- Where is the surname North most common?
- Wikidata records people named North in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
- How do you pronounce North?
- North is /nɔː(ɹ)θ/, one syllable.
- What type of surname is North?
- North is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
- Is the surname North getting more or less common?
- More common. 20,238 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 20,343 in 2010, up 0.5%.
- Is North also a first name?
- Yes. North 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.