Explore the Family Name Dancer

The meaning of Dancer

1. English: occupational name for a dancer or acrobat, from Middle English dancer, dauncer ‘dancer, especially a professional public dancer’ from an agent derivative of Middle English dancen, dauncen ‘to dance’ (compare Dance). 2. Altered form of Dutch Danser or German Danzer, cognates of English Dancer (see 1 above).

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname 'Dancer' has seen a slight increase between 2000 and 2010. Ranked 11,986 in 2000, it moved up to 11,685 by 2010 which is a change of 2.51 percent. In terms of count, the number of people with this surname also grew from 2391 to 2682 over the same period, marking a rise of 12.17 percent. This increase is reflected in the proportion per 100,000 people where it went up from 0.89 to 0.91, a change of 2.25 percent.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#11,986	#11,685	2.51%
Count	2,391	2,682	12.17%
Proportion per 100k	0.89	0.91	2.25%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Dancer

The ethnicity data for the surname 'Dancer', also based on the Decennial U.S. Census, shows some shifts in ethnic identity between 2000 and 2010. The largest increases were seen among individuals identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander and Hispanic, with changes of 114.81 percent and 130.48 percent respectively. There was also an increase in those identifying as two or more races (14.63 percent) and American Indian and Alaskan Native (88.73 percent). However, there was a slight decrease in the percentage of individuals with this surname identifying as White (-1.98 percent) and Black (-5.35 percent).

	2000	2010	Change
White	65.2%	63.91%	-1.98%
Black	30.45%	28.82%	-5.35%
Hispanic	1.05%	2.42%	130.48%
Two or More Races	2.05%	2.35%	14.63%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0.71%	1.34%	88.73%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.54%	1.16%	114.81%