How common is the surname Pugh?

39,559 people in the United States had the surname Pugh in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 7,805 Americans. It ranked 879th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Pugh?

Florence Pugh, British actress (born 1996), followed by Jim Pugh.

Where is the surname Pugh most common?

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

Is the surname Pugh getting more or less common?

More common. 38,691 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 39,559 in 2010, up 2.2%.

The surname Pugh

A Welsh patronymic surname, carried by 39,559 people in the United States.

Pronounced /pjuː/ 1 syllable Soundex P200

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Pugh is more common than 99.5% of them.

Origin

Welsh origin

From Welsh ap (“son of”) + Huw (“Hugh”).

Pugh is a patronymic surname: formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.

One of 60 Welsh surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 39,559 people named Pugh in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 7,805 Americans. That is up 2.2% since 2000, when the Census counted 38,691.

#879

rank among US surnames

39,559

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+2.2%

change since 2000 (was #817)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#870	Hurley	39,796	7,758
#871	Harding	39,787	7,760
#872	McConnell	39,754	7,766
#873	Bernal	39,693	7,778
#874	Nava	39,670	7,783
#875	Ayers	39,623	7,792
#876	Everett	39,593	7,798

Who is named Pugh

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

67% of people named Pugh identified as white (not Hispanic), 28% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.0% as two or more races.

White (not Hispanic) 67%
Black (not Hispanic) 28%
Two or more races 2.0%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 1.8%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.4%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Pughs

11 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Florence Pugh
British actress (born 1996)
Jim Pugh
American tennis player, born 1964
Robert Pugh
British actor, born 1950
George E. Pugh
American politician (1822-1876)
Willard E. Pugh
American actor, born 1959
Catherine E. Pugh
American politician, born 1950
Charles C. Pugh
American mathematician, born 1940
Eliza Ann Pugh
Australian journalist, literary critic and social reformer, 1851–1900
Zachary Levi
American actor (born 1980)
Tammy Wynette
American country singer (1942–1998)
Jay Briscoe
American professional wrestler (1984–2023)

Notable Pughs come mostly from the United States (8), the United Kingdom (2) and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Bew
Pew
Pughe

Surnames that sound like Pugh

Pugh has the Soundex code P200, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code P200.

Other Welsh surnames

All 60 Welsh surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Pugh come from?: From Welsh ap (“son of”) + Huw (“Hugh”).
How common is the surname Pugh?: 39,559 people in the United States had the surname Pugh in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 7,805 Americans. It ranked 879th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Pugh?: In the 2010 Census, 67% of people named Pugh identified as white (not Hispanic), and 28% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Pugh?: Florence Pugh, British actress (born 1996), followed by Jim Pugh.
Where is the surname Pugh most common?: Wikidata records people named Pugh in the United States, the United Kingdom and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
How do you pronounce Pugh?: Pugh is /pjuː/, one syllable.
What type of surname is Pugh?: Pugh is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
Is the surname Pugh getting more or less common?: More common. 38,691 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 39,559 in 2010, up 2.2%.
What are other spellings of Pugh?: Bew, Pew and Pughe.