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Name Lineage

    The surname Somerset

    An English surname, carried by 510 people in the United States.

    Pronounced /ˈsʌm.ɚ.sɛt/ 3 syllables Soundex S562

    Somerset: #42,511 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#1,000Archer#10,001Dubon Somerset #42,511, 510 people Somerset: #42,511 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#100Jimenez Somerset #42,511, 510 people
    Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Somerset is more common than 73.8% of them.

    Origin

    English origin

    From Old English Sumorsǣte, which is short for Sumortūnsǣte, meaning "the people living at or dependent upon Sumortūn (Somerton)". An alternative suggestion is that the name derives from *Seo-mere-sætan meaning "settlers by the sea lakes".

    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 510 people named Somerset in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 605,383 Americans. That is up 6.7% since 2000, when the Census counted 478.

    #42,511
    rank among US surnames
    510
    people in 2010
    0.2
    per 100,000 Americans
    +6.7%
    change since 2000 (was #42,677)

    Who is named Somerset

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

    76% of people named Somerset identified as white (not Hispanic), 19% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.5% as two or more races.

    • White (not Hispanic) 76%
    • Black (not Hispanic) 19%
    • Two or more races 2.5%
    • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.0%
    The Census suppresses very small shares to protect privacy; Asian & Pacific Islander, Native American are not shown.

    Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

    Famous Somersets

    3 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

    • Mary Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort
      (1897-1987); British noblewoman
    • Lord Edward Somerset
      British Army general (1776-1842)
    • Henry Somerset, 9th Duke of Beaufort
      British Army officer and peer (1847–1924)

    Notable Somersets come mostly from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (2) and the Kingdom of Great Britain (1).

    Spellings and sound-alikes

    Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

    Surnames that sound like Somerset

    Somerset has the Soundex code S562, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code S562.

    Other English surnames

    All 1,446 English surnames

    Questions

    Where does the surname Somerset come from?
    From Old English Sumorsǣte, which is short for Sumortūnsǣte, meaning "the people living at or dependent upon Sumortūn (Somerton)". An alternative suggestion is that the name derives from *Seo-mere-sætan meaning "settlers by the sea lakes".
    How common is the surname Somerset?
    510 people in the United States had the surname Somerset in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 605,383 Americans. It ranked 42,511th of 162,253 surnames.
    What ethnicity is the surname Somerset?
    In the 2010 Census, 76% of people named Somerset identified as white (not Hispanic), and 19% as Black (not Hispanic).
    Who is the most famous person named Somerset?
    Mary Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort, (1897-1987); British noblewoman, followed by Lord Edward Somerset.
    Where is the surname Somerset most common?
    Wikidata records people named Somerset in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Kingdom of Great Britain.
    How do you pronounce Somerset?
    Somerset is /ˈsʌm.ɚ.sɛt/, 3 syllables.
    Is the surname Somerset getting more or less common?
    More common. 478 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 510 in 2010, up 6.7%.