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Name Lineage

    The surname Rathbun

    An English surname, carried by 6,467 people in the United States.

    2 syllables Soundex R315

    Rathbun: #5,381 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#1,000Archer Rathbun #5,381, 6,467 people Rathbun: #5,381 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#100Jimenez Rathbun #5,381, 6,467 people
    Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Rathbun is more common than 96.7% of them.

    Origin

    English origin

    from Middle English rath (Old English hræth) ‘eager, swift’ + bon (Old English bān) ‘bone’, specifically here the leg bone. In some instances the name was recorded with bayn (Old Norse beinn) ‘bone, leg’ in place of native English ban(e). This form of the surname is now rare in Britain.

    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 6,467 people named Rathbun in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 47,742 Americans. That is about the same as in 2000, when the Census counted 6,438.

    #5,381
    rank among US surnames
    6,467
    people in 2010
    2.2
    per 100,000 Americans
    +0.5%
    change since 2000 (was #4,997)
    RankSurnamePeople1 in
    #5,373Cushing6,48047,646
    #5,374Canter6,47747,668
    #5,375Billups6,47547,683
    #5,376Valentino6,47447,690
    #5,377Newhouse6,47147,712
    #5,378Campo6,47047,720
    #5,379Hatley6,46847,734

    Who is named Rathbun

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

    95% of people named Rathbun identified as white (not Hispanic), 2.0% as two or more races and 1.8% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

    • White (not Hispanic) 95%
    • Two or more races 2.0%
    • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 1.8%
    • Asian and Pacific Islander 0.8%
    • American Indian and Alaska Native 0.5%
    • Black (not Hispanic) 0.2%

    Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

    Famous Rathbuns

    5 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

    • Mary J. Rathbun
      American carcinologist (1860–1943)
    • Mark Rathbun
      American whistleblower, born 1957
    • Richard Rathbun
      American zoologist (1852-1918)
    • Brownie Mary
      American medical cannabis activist (1922–1999)
    • Audien
      American DJ, record producer and musician, born 1992

    Spellings and sound-alikes

    Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

    Surnames that sound like Rathbun

    Rathbun has the Soundex code R315, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code R315.

    Other English surnames

    All 1,446 English surnames

    Questions

    Where does the surname Rathbun come from?
    from Middle English rath (Old English hræth) ‘eager, swift’ + bon (Old English bān) ‘bone’, specifically here the leg bone. In some instances the name was recorded with bayn (Old Norse beinn) ‘bone, leg’ in place of native English ban(e). This form of the surname is now rare in Britain.
    How common is the surname Rathbun?
    6,467 people in the United States had the surname Rathbun in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 47,742 Americans. It ranked 5,381st of 162,253 surnames.
    What ethnicity is the surname Rathbun?
    In the 2010 Census, 95% of people named Rathbun identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.0% as two or more races.
    Who is the most famous person named Rathbun?
    Mary J. Rathbun, American carcinologist (1860–1943), followed by Mark Rathbun.
    Where is the surname Rathbun most common?
    Wikidata records people named Rathbun in the United States.
    Is the surname Rathbun getting more or less common?
    More common. 6,438 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 6,467 in 2010, up 0.5%.