Explore the Family Name Daughters

The meaning of Daughters

English (London): variant of Dafter, with post-medieval excrescent -s, apparently from Middle English doughter, dohtor, douter (Old English dohtor) ‘daughter’, often pronounced in early modern English as dafter. For the name to be borne by a man, such that it became a hereditary surname, is surprising, though there are occasional instances of men being named in this way (unless they are clerical errors or it was a surname acquired by the retainers of an heiress of an important family). Alternatively, alternatively Daughter, Daughters might be a simplified pronunciation of Dawtry (see Daughtery), a surname well evidenced in Yorkshire and Sussex, where Doughter and Daughter also occur, in which case the change to Dafter will have arisen through misinterpretation.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname 'Daughters' has seen a significant increase from the year 2000 to 2010. The rank of this surname improved, moving up from 72,237 in 2000 to 64,388 in 2010, marking a change of 10.87 percent. Similarly, the count of individuals with this surname also increased by 23.11 percent, growing from 251 in 2000 to 309 in 2010. The proportion of the surname 'Daughters' per 100k people also saw an uptick, rising from 0.09 in 2000 to 0.1 in 2010, which signifies an 11.11 percent increase.

20002010Change
Rank#72,237#64,38810.87%
Count25130923.11%
Proportion per 100k0.090.111.11%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Daughters

The data from the Decennial U.S. Census also provides insights into the ethnic identity distribution among those bearing the surname 'Daughters'. In 2000, the majority of individuals with this surname were identified as White, accounting for 95.62 percent, which slightly decreased to 91.26 percent by 2010. The Hispanic representation among 'Daughters' bearers saw a substantial increase, moving from 2.39 percent in 2000 to 5.83 percent in 2010, indicating a 143.93 percent change. However, the percentage of individuals identifying with two or more races experienced a minor decrease of 2.51 percent during the same period. The Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, and American Indian and Alaskan Native categories reported no measurable numbers for both years.

20002010Change
White95.62%91.26%-4.56%
Hispanic2.39%5.83%143.93%
Two or More Races1.99%1.94%-2.51%
Asian/Pacific Islander0%0%0%
Black0%0%0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native0%0%0%