# Southern (surname)

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

A surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | nickname, from a description or nickname of an ancestor |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 7,738 |
| US rank (2010) | 4,587 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 39,900 people |
| Change since 2000 | +3.3% (7,494 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈsʌð.ən/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | Sotheran, Sothern, Sotheron, Southan, Southerin, Southon, Southorn, Sudran, Sudron, Sutherin |

## Etymology

English surname, from the adjective southern. Often used as a northern English nickname for someone from the south of the country, or as a Scottish nickname for an Englishman.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Southern 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) | 82% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 13% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.2% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.5% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.9% |
| Two or more races | 2.0% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Southern in the United States and Australia.

## People named Southern

- Terry Southern, American writer (1924–1995)
- Taryn Southern, American actor-singer
- Clara Southern, Australian artist (1860-1940)
- Eddie Southern, American hurdler and sprinter (1938–2023)
- Eve Southern, actress (1898-1972)

## Similar surnames

Stern, Sterns, Strong, Stringer, Strange, Stearns, Starnes, Strand, Storm, Sturm, Strom, Strain.

## 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.