How common is the surname Tracy?

29,867 people in the United States had the surname Tracy in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 10,337 Americans. It ranked 1,180th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Tracy?

Spencer Tracy, American actor (1900–1967), followed by Brian Tracy.

Where is the surname Tracy most common?

Wikidata records people named Tracy in the United States and Canada.

How do you pronounce Tracy?

Tracy is /ˈtɹeɪsi/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname Tracy getting more or less common?

More common. 29,316 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 29,867 in 2010, up 1.9%.

Is Tracy also a first name?

Yes. Tracy 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 Tracy

A French surname, carried by 29,867 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈtɹeɪsi/ 2 syllables Soundex T620 Also a first name

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Tracy is more common than 99.3% of them.

Origin

French origin

A Norman baronial surname from places in France, derived from the Gallo-Roman given name Thracius which referred to Thrace + the Celtic suffix *-āko (place, property). As a female given name, it is also known as a diminutive of Theresa.

One of 791 French surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 29,867 people named Tracy in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 10,337 Americans. That is up 1.9% since 2000, when the Census counted 29,316.

#1,180

rank among US surnames

29,867

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+1.9%

change since 2000 (was #1,093)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#1,171	Whitfield	29,962	10,305
#1,172	Crowe	29,953	10,308
#1,173	Goldstein	29,938	10,313
#1,174	England	29,926	10,317
#1,175	Pereira	29,898	10,327
#1,176	Ly	29,891	10,329
#1,177	Joyner	29,884	10,331

Who is named Tracy

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

91% of people named Tracy identified as white (not Hispanic), 2.8% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.5% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 91%
Black (not Hispanic) 2.8%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.5%
Two or more races 1.6%
American Indian and Alaska Native 1.4%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.6%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Tracys

10 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Spencer Tracy
American actor (1900–1967)
Brian Tracy
American motivational speaker and writer, born 1944
Lee Tracy
American actor (1898-1968)
David Tracy
American theologian, 1939–2025
Lynne M. Tracy
American diplomat, US Ambassador to Russia from 2023
William Tracy
American actor (1917-1967)
Uriah Tracy
American politician (1755-1807)
Benjamin Franklin Tracy
American politician (1830–1915)
Craig Tracy
American mathematician, 1945–2026
Jeanie Tracy
American musician, born 1960

Notable Tracys come mostly from the United States (9) and Canada (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Tracey
Traci
Tracie

Surnames that sound like Tracy

Tracy has the Soundex code T620, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code T620.

Other French surnames

All 791 French surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Tracy come from?: A Norman baronial surname from places in France, derived from the Gallo-Roman given name Thracius which referred to Thrace + the Celtic suffix *-āko (place, property). As a female given name, it is also known as a diminutive of Theresa.
How common is the surname Tracy?: 29,867 people in the United States had the surname Tracy in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 10,337 Americans. It ranked 1,180th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Tracy?: In the 2010 Census, 91% of people named Tracy identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.8% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Tracy?: Spencer Tracy, American actor (1900–1967), followed by Brian Tracy.
Where is the surname Tracy most common?: Wikidata records people named Tracy in the United States and Canada.
How do you pronounce Tracy?: Tracy is /ˈtɹeɪsi/, 2 syllables.
Is the surname Tracy getting more or less common?: More common. 29,316 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 29,867 in 2010, up 1.9%.
What are other spellings of Tracy?: Tracey, Traci and Tracie.
Is Tracy also a first name?: Yes. Tracy 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.