Explore the Family Name Field
The meaning of Field
1. English and Irish: habitational name, probably from Field, in Leigh, Staffordshire. The placename derives from Old English feld ‘flat open country’. In the late 12th century one of Henry II’s warrior knights took the surname to Ireland, where it often took the semi-Norman French form de la Feld. From the 15th century onward it was increasingly reduced to Field and gave its name to Fieldstown, the family’s chief seat near Dublin. A branch of the Anglo-Irish family that migrated back to England in the 14th century retained the Normanized form as Delafield. 2. English: topographic name for someone who lived by an arable field or an area of open country (Middle English feld). 3. Irish: Anglicized form of Feeley, through similarity of sound, and of Maghery by translation (chiefly in Armagh), from Gaelic An Mhachaire ‘of the field’. 4. Americanized form (translation into English) of German and Jewish (Ashkenazic) Feld. The surname of Jewish and German origin is also found in Britain.
Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.
How common is the last name Field in the United States?
Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname "Field" experienced a slight dip in popularity between the years 2000 and 2010. In the year 2000, it ranked 1329th most common surname, but dropped to 1452nd place by 2010, marking a -9.26% change. Despite this drop in rank, the actual count of people with the Field surname increased marginally from 24,374 in 2000 to 24,543 in 2010, indicating a growth of 0.69%. The proportion per 100,000 people also decreased by -7.96%.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #1,329 | #1,452 | -9.26% |
| Count | 24,374 | 24,543 | 0.69% |
| Proportion per 100k | 9.04 | 8.32 | -7.96% |
Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Field
Ethnic identity distribution for the surname "Field" also saw some shifts during the same period, as per the Decennial U.S. Census data. The largest growth was seen among those identifying as Hispanic, with an increase of 47.28%, followed by Asian/Pacific Islanders at 31.71%, and those identifying with two or more races at 30.00%. While those identifying as White still made up the majority of individuals with the Field surname, there was a slight decrease of -1.59%. The representation of Black ethnicity slightly reduced by -3.83%, whereas American Indian and Alaskan Native category saw a minor increase of 17.02%.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 91.91% | 90.45% | -1.59% |
| Black | 3.66% | 3.52% | -3.83% |
| Hispanic | 1.84% | 2.71% | 47.28% |
| Two or More Races | 1.3% | 1.69% | 30% |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 0.82% | 1.08% | 31.71% |
| American Indian and Alaskan Native | 0.47% | 0.55% | 17.02% |
Field ancestry composition
23andMe computes an ancestry breakdown for each customer. People may have ancestry from just one population or they may have ancestry from several populations. The most commonly-observed ancestry found in people with the surname Field is British & Irish, which comprises 49.2% of all ancestry found in people with the surname. The next two most common ancestries are French & German (20.4%) and Ashkenazi Jewish (8.4%). Additional ancestries include Scandinavian, Eastern European, Italian, Spanish & Portuguese, and Indigenous American.
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| ANCESTRY BREAKDOWN | COMPOSITION |
|---|---|
| British & Irish | 49.2% |
| French & German | 20.4% |
| Ashkenazi Jewish | 8.4% |
| Other | 22.0% |
Possible origins of the surname Field
Your DNA provides clues about where your recent ancestors may have lived. Having many distant relatives in the same location suggests that you may all share common ancestry there. Locations with many distant relatives can also be places where people have migrated recently, such as large cities. If a large number of individuals who share your surname have distant relatives in a specific area, it could indicate a connection between your surname and that location, stemming from either recent ancestral ties or migration.
Based on 23andMe data, people with last name Field have recent ancestry locations all within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
| RECENT ANCESTRY Location | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Merseyside, United Kingdom | 82.10% |
| Greater London, United Kingdom | 82.10% |
| Greater Manchester, United Kingdom | 82.00% |
| Glasgow City, United Kingdom | 81.90% |
| West Midlands, United Kingdom | 81.70% |
What Field haplogroups can tell you
Haplogroups are genetic population groups that share a common ancestor on either your paternal or maternal line. These paternal and maternal haplogroups shed light on your genetic ancestry and help tell the story of your family.
The top paternal haplogroup of people with the surname Field is I-Z58, which is predominantly found among people with European ancestry. Haplogroup I-Z58 is descended from haplogroup I-M170. Other common haplogroups include I-M253 and R-CTS241, which are predominantly found among people with European and European ancestry. Other surnames with similar common haplogroups are: Fields, Stephenson, Norman, Stevenson, Powers, Lowe, Jarvis, English, Reed, Baker.
The most common maternal haplogroups of people with Field surname are: H1, T2b, H. These most commonly trace back to individuals of European ancestry.
Paternal Haplogroup Origins I-M170
Your paternal lineage may be linked to Alexander Hamilton
Early in the morning on July 11, 1804, Aaron Burr (then Vice President of the United States) and Alexander Hamilton (founder of the U.S. Treasury) dueled on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River. This marked the culmination of a bitter personal and political rivalry between the two men. Alexander Hamilton died as a result of the duel, but his intellectual legacy survives in the founding documents of the nation he helped build. A piece of his genetic legacy survives as well: in the 21st century, genealogists documented the paternal haplogroups of dozens of Hamilton's living descendants and concluded that the Founding Father's paternal haplogroup was a branch of I-DF29.
Your maternal lineage may be linked to Marie Antoinette
Because it is so dominant in the general European population, haplogroup H also appears quite frequently in the continent's royal houses. Marie Antoinette, an Austrian Hapsburg who married into the French royal family, inherited the haplogroup from her maternal ancestors. So did Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, whose recorded genealogy traces his female line to Bavaria. Scientists also discovered that famed 16th century astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus traced his maternal lineages to haplogroup H.
What do people with the surname Field have in common?
Spoiler alert: it's complicated. People with the same last name are usually no more genetically similar than a randomly sampled group of people from the same population. That said, people with the same surname are more likely to have similar ancestries than randomly sampled individuals. The reason is the tendency of people with similar cultural or geographical backgrounds to preferentially mate with one another. That's why people who share a surname may be more likely to share traits and tendencies in common than people within the general population. Check out the percentages below to see the prevalences of tastes, habits, and traits of people with your surname compared with prevalences among 23andMe users.
Preferences
Chocolate Ice Cream
Prefers chocolate flavored ice cream over other flavors.
"Field" Surname 42.9%
23andMe Users 41.3%
Traits
Misophonia
When sounds made by others, like the sound of chewing or yawning, provoke strong emotional reactions in an individual.
"Field" Surname 24.9%
23andMe Users 27.9%
Habits
Sugary Drink
Drinks one or more sugary drinks per day.
"Field" Surname 23.9%
23andMe Users 21.1%
Wellness
Migraine
A severe headache characterized by intense pain, sensitivity to light and sound, and often accompanied by nausea and vomiting.
"Field" Surname 17.4%
23andMe Users 16.4%
Are health conditions linked to the last name Field?
The short answer is that, if there is an association between surname and health, it's usually more about your ancestry than your name. Individuals with a given surname are no more genetically similar than the general population but often have similar ancestries. The populations of people associated with those shared ancestries often have sets of genetic variations, also known as alleles, in common. Some of those alleles are associated with a greater likelihood of developing certain diseases.
Disease variant frequency by ancestry
Disease allele frequencies in populations associated with the surname Field are shown below. Important Note: not everyone with a disease allele will develop these health condition