Explore the Family Name Amy

The meaning of Amy

1. English: variant of Amey. 2. French: nickname from Old French ami ‘friend’, ultimately from Latin amicus ‘friend’. Compare Lamy. 3. French: from the Old French personal name Ami(s) ‘friend’, of the same Latin origin as 2 above.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Amy in the United States?

The surname Amy, based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census, experienced a slight drop in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it ranked 13,641st in prevalence, but by 2010, its rank had slipped to 14,570th, constituting a decrease of approximately 6.81%. Nonetheless, the actual count of individuals bearing this surname saw a marginal increase over the decade, rising from 2,040 in 2000 to 2,045 in 2010. This resulted in a minor change of 0.25%, despite the proportion per 100,000 people dropping by 9.21%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#13,641	#14,570	-6.81%
Count	2,040	2,045	0.25%
Proportion per 100k	0.76	0.69	-9.21%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Amy

As for the ethnic identity related to the surname Amy, the Decennial U.S. Census data shows that it is primarily associated with White ethnicity, at 81.22% in 2010, albeit experiencing a slight decrease of 1.96% from 2000. The next largest group identifying with this surname was Black, accounting for 12.22% in 2010, which showed a notable increase of 27.82% from 2000. Additionally, the Hispanic community constituted 4.30%, a rise of 6.97% from 2000. However, the percentage of those from Asian/Pacific Islander background slightly decreased from 1.13% to 1.08%, while the proportion of those identifying as 'Two or more races' or 'American Indian and Alaskan Native' was suppressed for privacy reasons in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
White	82.84%	81.22%	-1.96%
Black	9.56%	12.22%	27.82%
Hispanic	4.02%	4.3%	6.97%
Asian/Pacific Islander	1.13%	1.08%	-4.42%
Two or More Races	1.52%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0.93%	0%	0%