Explore the Family Name Cadmus

The meaning of Cadmus

Dutch: apparently a humanistic surname taken from the Latin form of classical Greek Kadmos, the name of the son of the Phoenician King Agenor, founder of Thebes, the person reputed to have introduced the alphabet to the Greeks, a mythological representation of the acquisition of the alphabet from the Phoenicians. This surname is not recorded in the Netherlands; it was apparently adopted in North America. History: The first recorded American bearer of the surname Cadmus was Thomas Frederick de Kuyper from the Netherlands (born in 1611 in Leyden, died in 1678 in NJ).

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

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

The surname Cadmus, according to the Decennial U.S. Census data, has seen a slight decline in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, Cadmus was ranked 37,534 in terms of popularity, but dropped to 38,902 by 2010, marking a 3.64% decrease. The count of individuals with this surname, however, saw a minor increase of 1.61%, from 558 people in 2000 to 567 in 2010. Despite this growth, the proportion of individuals named Cadmus per 100,000 people decreased by 9.52%.

20002010Change
Rank#37,534#38,902-3.64%
Count5585671.61%
Proportion per 100k0.210.19-9.52%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Cadmus

In terms of ethnicity, the Decennial U.S. Census data shows a diverse range of ethnic identities associated with the Cadmus surname. Most notably, there was a significant increase in the number of individuals identifying as Black or African American, which rose from 1.61% in 2000 to 4.06% in 2010 — an impressive 152.17% change. However, those who identified as White still represent the majority of individuals with the Cadmus surname, even though their proportion dropped slightly from 96.77% in 2000 to 92.06% in 2010. Meanwhile, the Hispanic population with this surname grew by 30.56%, while the American Indian and Alaskan Native category appeared in 2010 with a 1.06% proportion. The data for Asian/Pacific Islander and for individuals of two or more races were either suppressed or reported no changes.

20002010Change
White96.77%92.06%-4.87%
Black1.61%4.06%152.17%
Hispanic1.08%1.41%30.56%
American Indian and Alaskan Native0%1.06%0%
Asian/Pacific Islander0%0%0%
Two or More Races0%0%0%