# Vance (surname)

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

A habitational surname from Old English.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | English |
| Type | place, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 47,324 |
| US rank (2010) | 737 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 6,524 people |
| Change since 2000 | +3.4% (45,763 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈvæns/, 1 syllable |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From a Southern English dialectal form of Old English fenn (“marsh, bog”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Vance 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) | 2.4% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.6% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.7% |
| Two or more races | 1.9% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Vance in the United States, the United Kingdom and Belgium.

## People named Vance

- Jack Vance, American mystery and speculative fiction writer (1916–2013)
- Chris Vance, British actor
- Courtney B. Vance, American actor
- Vivian Vance, American actress (1909–1979)
- William Vance, Belgian comics artist (1935-2018)
- Dazzy Vance, American baseball player (1891–1961)
- Marilyn Vance, American film director
- Danitra Vance, American comedian and actress (1954–1994)
- Ashlee Vance, American journalist

## Similar surnames

Vince, Vanzee, Vanasse, Vang, Vanhoose, Vanek, Vanscoy, Vines, Vuong, Vong, Vanhook, Venezia.

## 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.