Explore the Family Name Espey

The meaning of Espey

1. Scottish (Northumberland): variant of Espy. 2. German: topographic name for someone who lived by a stretch of water or marsh edged by aspen trees, from Middle High German, Middle Low German espe ‘aspen’ + -ey, a suffix denoting the presence of water.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Espey decreased in popularity from 2000 to 2010. In 2000, Espey was ranked 20,565th in popularity, but by 2010 it had dropped to 22,707th, a decrease of 10.42%. The actual count of individuals with the Espey name also declined by 5.76% during that period, from 1,198 in 2000 to 1,129 in 2010. The proportion of people named Espey per 100,000 also decreased by 13.64%, from 0.44 in 2000 to 0.38 in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#20,565	#22,707	-10.42%
Count	1,198	1,129	-5.76%
Proportion per 100k	0.44	0.38	-13.64%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Espey

Discussing the ethnic identity associated with the surname Espey, the Decennial U.S. Census data shows that the majority identifies as White, with a slightly declining percentage of 89.48% in 2000 to 89.28% in 2010. Representation of the surname within the Black community also saw a decrease from 6.34% to 4.96% over the decade. There is an increase in those who identify as Hispanic, from 1.50% in 2000 to 2.92% in 2010, a substantial growth of 94.67%. People identifying with two or more races fell slightly from 2.09% to 2.04%. The categories for Asian/Pacific Islander and American Indian and Alaskan Native remained at zero for both years.

	2000	2010	Change
White	89.48%	89.28%	-0.22%
Black	6.34%	4.96%	-21.77%
Hispanic	1.5%	2.92%	94.67%
Two or More Races	2.09%	2.04%	-2.39%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%