Explore the Family Name Happy
The meaning of Happy
1. Americanized form (translation into English) of French Lheureux. 2. Americanized form of German Hoppe. 3. English (London) and Scottish: apparently from Middle English or Scots happi ‘prosperous, lucky; skillful’. It may sometimes also be a recent translation or adaptation, in the sense ‘happy’, of an immigrant surname such as German Gluck or French Lheureux (see 1 above), but in Britain there is no clear evidence for this. This surname is now rare in Britain.
Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.
How common is the last name Happy in the United States?
Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Happy has seen an increase in popularity from 2000 to 2010. In 2000, it was ranked as the 40,019th most common surname, but by 2010, it moved up to the 37,288th spot, showing a growth of 6.82 percent. The count of people with this surname also increased during this period, from 516 individuals in 2000 to 598 in 2010, a rise of 15.89 percent. This indicates that the proportion of individuals named Happy per 100,000 population also grew by 5.26 percent from 2000 to 2010.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #40,019 | #37,288 | 6.82% |
| Count | 516 | 598 | 15.89% |
| Proportion per 100k | 0.19 | 0.2 | 5.26% |
Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Happy
Ethnically, data from the Decennial U.S. Census reveals that there were some significant changes among those bearing the surname Happy between 2000 and 2010. The percentage of individuals identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander saw a substantial increase of 210.31 percent, while those identifying as Black increased by 26.67 percent. The percentage of individuals identifying with two or more ethnicities was reported for the first time in 2010 at 3.01 percent, similar to the Hispanic category, which was also reported for the first time in 2010 at 1.51 percent. However, the percentage of those identifying as White fell by 10.14 percent, and American Indian and Alaskan Native decreased by 13.76 percent.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 79.46% | 71.4% | -10.14% |
| Black | 9.11% | 11.54% | 26.67% |
| American Indian and Alaskan Native | 7.56% | 6.52% | -13.76% |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 1.94% | 6.02% | 210.31% |
| Two or More Races | 0% | 3.01% | 0% |
| Hispanic | 0% | 1.51% | 0% |