# Trent (surname)

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

A topographic surname: an English and Scottish surname for someone who lived near any of the rivers of that name.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | place, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 19,630 |
| US rank (2010) | 1,824 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 15,728 people |
| Change since 2000 | +5.1% (18,679 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /tɹɛnt/, 1 syllable |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

Inherited from Middle English Trent, from Old English Trēonte; Koch (2006) derives the river name from Proto-Celtic *tri-sent(o)-on-ā-, from the elements *trei (“through”) + *sentus (“path”). Traditionally said to be from Proto-Brythonic elements equivalent to tros (“over”) + hynt (“way”), often taken to mean "the trespasser" The surname in some cases is a shortening of "Tranent", or "Tranant" in Scottish Gaelic, a geographical location in East Lothian. "Tranant" itself is possibly of Brythonic (Celtic) origin.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Trent 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) | 80% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 15% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 1.9% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.5% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.5% |
| Two or more races | 2.1% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Trent in the United States and Austria.

## People named Trent

- Nathan Trent, Austrian singer
- Gary Trent Jr., American basketball player (born 1999)
- Alphonse Trent, American musician (1905–1959)
- Gary Trent, American basketball player (born 1974)

## Similar surnames

Turrentine, Trentham, Thornton, Trinidad, Tarrant, Tarantino, Trantham, Taranto, Thorndike.

## 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.