Explore the Family Name Iams

The meaning of Iams

English: perhaps a result of misdivision of the surname Williams, taken as Christian name and surname: ‘Will Iams’. However, the surname Iams is no longer found in Britain, while in the US it has reportedly first appeared in the form Ijams. Compare Iiams and Imes.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Iams showed a decrease in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, Iams was ranked 32,652 in popularity with 663 individuals bearing the name, which equates to about 0.25 per 100,000 people. However, by 2010, its rank had slipped to 37,848, with only 587 individuals carrying the surname, a decline of approximately 11.46%. This corresponded to a drop in proportion to about 0.2 individuals per 100,000, representing a 20% reduction.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#32,652	#37,848	-15.91%
Count	663	587	-11.46%
Proportion per 100k	0.25	0.2	-20%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Iams

The Decennial U.S. Census data also provides insights into the ethnic identity associated with the Iams surname. In both 2000 and 2010, the majority of the individuals with this surname identified as White (95.93% in 2000 and 95.23% in 2010). The representation of those identifying as Black decreased from 1.66% in 2000 to 1.02% in 2010. Interestingly, there was a noticeable increase in individuals of two or more races, growing from 1.06% in 2000 to 1.87% in 2010. The census data also shows a new emergence of American Indian and Alaskan Native identities (0.85%) in 2010, which was not present in 2000. No individuals with the Iams surname identified as Asian/Pacific Islander or Hispanic in either year.

	2000	2010	Change
White	95.93%	95.23%	-0.73%
Two or More Races	1.06%	1.87%	76.42%
Black	1.66%	1.02%	-38.55%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0.85%	0%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Hispanic	0%	0%	0%