# Trotter (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/trotter/  
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 | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 19,927 |
| US rank (2010) | 1,801 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 15,494 people |
| Change since 2000 | +5.2% (18,946 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

As an English and Scottish surname for a messenger, from trot. As a German surname, from Trotte (“winepress”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Trotter 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) | 62% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 32% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.3% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.5% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.5% |
| Two or more races | 2.8% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Trotter in the United States and Hungary.

## People named Trotter

- DeeDee Trotter, American athlete
- Obie Trotter, American basketball player
- James F. Trotter, American politician (1802-1866)
- Black Thought, American rapper

## Similar surnames

Tarter, Trottier, Tretter, Trader, Tortora, Tarwater.

## 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.