How common is the surname Purse?

381 people in the United States had the surname Purse in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 810,356 Americans. It ranked 54,178th of 162,253 surnames.

Is the surname Purse getting more or less common?

Less common. 389 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 381 in 2010, down 2.1%.

The surname Purse

An English occupational surname, carried by 381 people in the United States.

Pronounced /pɝs/ 1 syllable Soundex P620

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Purse is more common than 66.6% of them.

Origin

English origin

A metonymic occupational surname for someone who made bags or purses, from Middle English purse.

Purse is an occupational surname: named after the work an ancestor did.

One of 1,446 English surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 381 people named Purse in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 810,356 Americans. That is down 2.1% since 2000, when the Census counted 389.

#54,178

rank among US surnames

381

people in 2010

0.1

per 100,000 Americans

-2.1%

change since 2000 (was #50,468)

Who is named Purse

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

66% of people named Purse identified as white (not Hispanic), 27% as Black (not Hispanic) and 3.9% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 66%
Black (not Hispanic) 27%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 3.9%
Two or more races 2.1%

The Census suppresses very small shares to protect privacy; Asian & Pacific Islander, Native American are not shown.

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Purse

Purse has the Soundex code P620, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code P620.

Other English surnames

All 1,446 English surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Purse come from?: A metonymic occupational surname for someone who made bags or purses, from Middle English purse.
How common is the surname Purse?: 381 people in the United States had the surname Purse in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 810,356 Americans. It ranked 54,178th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Purse?: In the 2010 Census, 66% of people named Purse identified as white (not Hispanic), and 27% as Black (not Hispanic).
How do you pronounce Purse?: Purse is /pɝs/, one syllable.
What type of surname is Purse?: Purse is an occupational surname, named after the work an ancestor did.
Is the surname Purse getting more or less common?: Less common. 389 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 381 in 2010, down 2.1%.