# Purdue (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/purdue/  
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 | French |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 1,674 |
| US rank (2010) | 16,975 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 184,436 people |
| Change since 2000 | +1.9% (1,643 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | Purday, Purdey, Purdie, Purdy, Purdye, Purdu |

## Etymology

From Middle English Purdew, Purdeu, from French pour (“for”) + Dieu (“God”), an oath name.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Purdue 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) | 81% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 14% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 1.8% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.4% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.4% |
| Two or more races | 2.2% |

## Similar surnames

Perdue, Purdy, Pride, Pardue, Purdie, Prude, Pratt, Pruitt, Prado, Prieto, Parrott, Pruett.

## 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.