# Straw (surname)

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

A surname transferred from the nickname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | English |
| Type | occupational, named after the work an ancestor did |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 3,962 |
| US rank (2010) | 8,356 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 77,927 people |
| Change since 2000 | +1.9% (3,887 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From Middle English straw, as a nickname for a thin person or one with straw-coloured hair, or an occupational name for a dealer in straw.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Straw 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) | 90% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 5.2% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 1.5% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.8% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.7% |
| Two or more races | 2.0% |

## Similar surnames

Starr, Star, Sutera, Story, Storey, Sutter, Suter, Sauter, Stroh, Scudder, Souder, Sather.

## 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.