How common is the surname Read?

17,048 people in the United States had the surname Read in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 18,110 Americans. It ranked 2,127th of 162,253 surnames.

What ethnicity is the surname Read?

In the 2010 Census, 91% of people named Read identified as white (not Hispanic), and 3.8% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

Who is the most famous person named Read?

George Read, American politician (1733-1798), followed by James Read.

Where is the surname Read most common?

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

Is the surname Read getting more or less common?

More common. 16,736 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 17,048 in 2010, up 1.9%.

Is Read also a first name?

Yes. Read 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 Read

A surname, carried by 17,048 people in the United States.

1 syllable Soundex R300

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Read is more common than 98.7% of them.

Origin

English and Scottish surname, variant of Reed.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 17,048 people named Read in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 18,110 Americans. That is up 1.9% since 2000, when the Census counted 16,736.

#2,127

rank among US surnames

17,048

people in 2010

5.8

per 100,000 Americans

+1.9%

change since 2000 (was #1,981)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#2,122	Chow	17,059	18,099
#2,123	Dutton	17,057	18,101
#2,125	Flood	17,053	18,105
#2,127	Read	17,048	18,110

Who is named Read

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

91% of people named Read identified as white (not Hispanic), 3.8% as Hispanic or Latino (any race) and 2.7% as Black (not Hispanic).

White (not Hispanic) 91%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 3.8%
Black (not Hispanic) 2.7%
Two or more races 1.3%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.6%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.4%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Reads

9 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

George Read
American politician (1733-1798)
James Read
American actor, born 1953
Leonard Read
American academic, 1898–1983
Jason Read
American rower, born 1977
Jacob Read
American politician (1752-1816)
Thomas Buchanan Read
American artist (1822-1872)
Catherine Read
British artist (1723-1778)
Gardner Read
American composer (1913-2005)
Therica Wilson-Read
British actress, born 1993

Notable Reads come mostly from the United States (7), the Kingdom of Great Britain (1) and the United Kingdom (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Read

Read has the Soundex code R300, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code R300.

Questions

Where does the surname Read come from?: English and Scottish surname, variant of Reed.
How common is the surname Read?: 17,048 people in the United States had the surname Read in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 18,110 Americans. It ranked 2,127th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Read?: In the 2010 Census, 91% of people named Read identified as white (not Hispanic), and 3.8% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
Who is the most famous person named Read?: George Read, American politician (1733-1798), followed by James Read.
Where is the surname Read most common?: Wikidata records people named Read in the United States, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United Kingdom.
Is the surname Read getting more or less common?: More common. 16,736 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 17,048 in 2010, up 1.9%.
Is Read also a first name?: Yes. Read 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.