How common is the surname Ramsey?

78,350 people in the United States had the surname Ramsey in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 3,941 Americans. It ranked 412th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Ramsey?

Norman Foster Ramsey, American physicist (1915–2011), followed by Bella Ramsey.

Where is the surname Ramsey most common?

Wikidata records people named Ramsey in the United States and the United Kingdom.

How do you pronounce Ramsey?

Ramsey is /ˈɹæmzi/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname Ramsey getting more or less common?

More common. 76,625 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 78,350 in 2010, up 2.3%.

Is Ramsey also a first name?

Yes. Ramsey 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.

The surname Ramsey

An English place surname, carried by 78,350 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈɹæmzi/ 2 syllables Soundex R520 Also a first name

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Ramsey is more common than 99.7% of them.

Origin

English origin

From Old English hramsa (“wild garlic”) + īeġ (“island”).

Ramsey is a place surname: taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.

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 78,350 people named Ramsey in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 3,941 Americans. That is up 2.3% since 2000, when the Census counted 76,625.

#412

rank among US surnames

78,350

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+2.3%

change since 2000 (was #373)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#403	Cummings	79,316	3,893
#404	Chandler	79,186	3,899
#405	Sharp	78,990	3,909
#406	Barber	78,848	3,916
#407	Bowen	78,822	3,917
#408	Ochoa	78,677	3,924
#409	Dennis	78,482	3,934

Who is named Ramsey

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

78% of people named Ramsey identified as white (not Hispanic), 17% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.5% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 78%
Black (not Hispanic) 17%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.5%
Two or more races 2.0%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.7%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Ramseys

23 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Norman Foster Ramsey
American physicist (1915–2011)
Bella Ramsey
British actor, born 2003
Anne Ramsey
American actress (1929-1988)
David Ramsey
American actor, born 1971
Laura Ramsey
American actress, born 1982
Marion Ramsey
American actress (1947–2021)
Wes Ramsey
American actor, born 1977
Mason Ramsey
American singer, born 2006
Frank Ramsey
American basketball player (1931-2018)
Alexander Ramsey
American politician (1815-1903)
Peter Ramsey
American film director, born 1962
Jalen Ramsey
American football player (born 1994)

Notable Ramseys come mostly from the United States (21) and the United Kingdom (2).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Ramsay

Surnames that sound like Ramsey

Ramsey has the Soundex code R520, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code R520.

Other English surnames

All 1,446 English surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Ramsey come from?: From Old English hramsa (“wild garlic”) + īeġ (“island”).
How common is the surname Ramsey?: 78,350 people in the United States had the surname Ramsey in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 3,941 Americans. It ranked 412th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Ramsey?: In the 2010 Census, 78% of people named Ramsey identified as white (not Hispanic), and 17% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Ramsey?: Norman Foster Ramsey, American physicist (1915–2011), followed by Bella Ramsey.
Where is the surname Ramsey most common?: Wikidata records people named Ramsey in the United States and the United Kingdom.
How do you pronounce Ramsey?: Ramsey is /ˈɹæmzi/, 2 syllables.
What type of surname is Ramsey?: Ramsey is a place surname, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.
Is the surname Ramsey getting more or less common?: More common. 76,625 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 78,350 in 2010, up 2.3%.
What are other spellings of Ramsey?: Ramsay.
Is Ramsey also a first name?: Yes. Ramsey 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.