The surnameWhite
A Norman nickname surname, the 24th most common in the United States.
1 syllable Soundex W300
Origin
Norman origin
* As an English surname, from Middle English White, as a nickname for someone with white hair or pale complexion; in some cases from a personal name of the same meaning. See the modern adjective white. * Also as an English surname, from Old English *wiht (“bend”), found only in placenames, a derivative of the verb wican (“to yield, bend”); compare Wight. * As a Scottish Gaelic and Irish surname, used as a translation of several Gaelic names containing the element bán and geal, including Mac Giolla bháin (McElwain, Kilbane), Ó Gealagáin (Galligan), Bán (Bane), and Ó Banáin (Bannon). * Also as a Scottish and Irish surname, an Anglicization of Irish de Faoite, itself from Anglo-Norman le White, le Whyte, from the same source as the English surname.
White is a nickname surname: from a description or nickname of an ancestor.
One of 128 Norman surnames on this site.
Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How common it is
2010 US Census
There were 660,491 people named White in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 467 Americans. That is up 3.3% since 2000, when the Census counted 639,515.
Who is named White
Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census
66% of people named White identified as white (not Hispanic), 28% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.4% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
- White (not Hispanic) 66%
- Black (not Hispanic) 28%
- Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.4%
- Two or more races 2.4%
- American Indian and Alaska Native 1.1%
- Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%
Famous Whites
201 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first
- Betty WhiteAmerican actress and comedian (1922–2021)
- Ellen G. WhiteAmerican author, co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (1827–1915)
- David A. R. WhiteAmerican actor, born 1970
- Barry WhiteAmerican soul singer (1944–2003)
- Ed WhiteAmerican astronaut (1930-1967)
- Jack WhiteAmerican musician (born 1975)
- E. B. WhiteAmerican author (1899–1985)
- Dana WhiteAmerican businessman and president of UFC (born 1969)
- Angela WhiteAustralian pornographic actress, pornographic director, and model (born 1985)
- Jeremy Allen WhiteAmerican actor (born 1991)
- Michael Jai WhiteAmerican actor, born 1967
- Hayden WhiteAmerican historian (1928–2018)
Notable Whites come mostly from the United States (172), the United Kingdom (13) and Australia (9).
Spellings and sound-alikes
Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling
Other Norman surnames
Questions
- Where does the surname White come from?
- * As an English surname, from Middle English White, as a nickname for someone with white hair or pale complexion; in some cases from a personal name of the same meaning. See the modern adjective white. * Also as an English surname, from Old English *wiht (“bend”), found only in placenames, a…
- How common is the surname White?
- 660,491 people in the United States had the surname White in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 467 Americans. It ranked 24th of 162,253 surnames.
- What ethnicity is the surname White?
- In the 2010 Census, 66% of people named White identified as white (not Hispanic), and 28% as Black (not Hispanic).
- Who is the most famous person named White?
- Betty White, American actress and comedian (1922–2021), followed by Ellen G. White.