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    The surname Ward

    An occupational surname, the 79th most common in the United States.

    Pronounced /wɔɹd/ 1 syllable Soundex W630 Also a first name

    Ward: #79 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#1,000Archer#10,001Dubon Ward #79, 260,464 people Ward: #79 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#1,000Archer Ward #79, 260,464 people
    Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Ward is more common than 99.9% of them.

    Origin

    * As an English surname, from the noun ward and related cognates such as warden, guard etc. * As an Irish surname, reduced from McWard, from mac an bard (“son of the poet”). * As a Jewish surname, adapted from Warshawski, named after Warsaw. Comparable to Warszawski. * As a French surname, Americanized from Guerin.

    Ward is an occupational surname: named after the work an ancestor did.

    Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

    How common it is

    2010 US Census

    There were 260,464 people named Ward in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 1,185 Americans. That is up 2.5% since 2000, when the Census counted 254,121.

    #79
    rank among US surnames
    260,464
    people in 2010
    88
    per 100,000 Americans
    +2.5%
    change since 2000 (was #71)
    RankSurnamePeople1 in
    #70Cooper280,7911,100
    #71Peterson278,2971,109
    #72Bailey277,8451,111
    #73Reed277,0301,114
    #74Kelly267,3941,155
    #75Howard264,8261,166
    #76Ramos263,4641,172

    Who is named Ward

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

    76% of people named Ward identified as white (not Hispanic), 19% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.4% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

    • White (not Hispanic) 76%
    • Black (not Hispanic) 19%
    • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.4%
    • Two or more races 2.1%
    • American Indian and Alaska Native 0.9%
    • Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%

    Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

    Famous Wards

    90 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

    • Sela Ward
      American actress, author, and producer, born 1956
    • Fred Ward
      American actor (1942–2022)
    • Julia Ward Howe
      American abolitionist, social activist, and poet, 1819–1910
    • Gemma Ward
      Australian model and actress, born 1987
    • Rachel Ward
      British actress, born 1957
    • Jesmyn Ward
      American writer, born 1977
    • Burt Ward
      American actor, born 1945
    • Andre Ward
      American boxer, born 1984
    • Pendleton Ward
      American animator, born 1982
    • Maitland Ward
      American actress and model, born 1977
    • Anita Ward
      American singer and musician (born 1956)
    • Mary Ward
      Anglo-Irish scientist and writer (1827-1869)

    Notable Wards come mostly from the United States (66), the United Kingdom (8) and Australia (6).

    Spellings and sound-alikes

    Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

    Surnames that sound like Ward

    Ward has the Soundex code W630, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code W630.

    Questions

    Where does the surname Ward come from?
    * As an English surname, from the noun ward and related cognates such as warden, guard etc. * As an Irish surname, reduced from McWard, from mac an bard (“son of the poet”). * As a Jewish surname, adapted from Warshawski, named after Warsaw. Comparable to Warszawski. * As a French surname,…
    How common is the surname Ward?
    260,464 people in the United States had the surname Ward in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 1,185 Americans. It ranked 79th of 162,253 surnames.
    What ethnicity is the surname Ward?
    In the 2010 Census, 76% of people named Ward identified as white (not Hispanic), and 19% as Black (not Hispanic).
    Who is the most famous person named Ward?
    Sela Ward, American actress, author, and producer, followed by Fred Ward.
    Where is the surname Ward most common?
    Wikidata records people named Ward in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia and 3 other countries.
    How do you pronounce Ward?
    Ward is /wɔɹd/, one syllable.
    What type of surname is Ward?
    Ward is an occupational surname, named after the work an ancestor did.
    Is the surname Ward getting more or less common?
    More common. 254,121 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 260,464 in 2010, up 2.5%.
    Is Ward also a first name?
    Yes. Ward 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.