# Saunders (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/saunders/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

An English, Scottish, and occasionally Jewish patronymic surname derived from an old form of Alexander.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | patronymic, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 69,943 |
| US rank (2010) | 476 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 4,414 people |
| Change since 2000 | +4.1% (67,210 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Who carries it

Share of people named Saunders 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) | 67% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 26% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.6% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.6% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.7% |
| Two or more races | 2.6% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Saunders in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Bermuda.

## People named Saunders

- George Saunders, American writer (born 1958)
- Kállay Saunders, American/Hungarian recording artist
- Raven Saunders, American shot putter
- Flip Saunders, American basketball player, coach, executive (1955-2015)
- Billy Joe Saunders, British boxer
- Rebecca Saunders, British ex-pat New Music composer based in Germany (born 1967)
- Alvin Saunders, American politician (1817-1899)
- Arlene Saunders, American singer (1930-2020)
- Christopher Saunders, Australian Roman Catholic bishop
- Howard Saunders, British businessman and ornithologist (1835–1907)
- Gloria Saunders, American actress (1927-1980)
- Josh Saunders, American soccer player (born 1981)

and 10 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Sanders, Snyder, Snider, Sanderson, Sander, Sunderman, Sanderlin, Sandor, Sender, Sanderford, Schneider, Santoro.

## 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.