Explore the Family Name Kneeland
The meaning of Kneeland
Irish: Anglicized form of Ó Nialláin (see Nealon). This surname is rare in Britain. History: Family tradition holds that John Kneeland, born in 1575 in Glasgow, Scotland, came with his brother Edward to Massachusetts Bay c.1630 on board one of his father’s vessels freighted with provisions for the Pilgrims, and that he settled near Boston. His grandson Samuel Kneeland (1697–1769) was a printer who published the Boston Gazette from 1741 to 1755.
Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.
How common is the last name Kneeland in the United States?
Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Kneeland saw slight changes in its popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it was ranked as the 13,058th most common surname, but by 2010 it had slipped to the 13,564th position, a decrease of approximately 3.88%. However, the actual count of people with this surname increased from 2,151 in 2000 to 2,236 in 2010, an increase of nearly 4%. The proportion of people with this surname per 100,000 also decreased slightly by 5% during this period.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #13,058 | #13,564 | -3.88% |
| Count | 2,151 | 2,236 | 3.95% |
| Proportion per 100k | 0.8 | 0.76 | -5% |
Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Kneeland
In terms of ethnicity, the Decennial U.S. Census data shows that there were some significant shifts among those bearing the Kneeland surname between 2000 and 2010. The percentage of Kneelands identifying as White declined slightly from 89.77% to 85.60%, while those identifying as Black saw a marginal increase from 7.62% to 8.09%. There was a notable rise in the proportion of Kneelands identifying as Hispanic, increasing from 0.93% to 2.42%. Similarly, the percentage of Kneelands identifying as having two or more ethnic identities rose from 0.79% to 1.97%. Interestingly, there were no Kneelands who identified as Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian and Alaskan Native in 2000, but by 2010, these groups made up 0.27% and 1.65% of the Kneeland population respectively.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 89.77% | 85.6% | -4.65% |
| Black | 7.62% | 8.09% | 6.17% |
| Hispanic | 0.93% | 2.42% | 160.22% |
| Two or More Races | 0.79% | 1.97% | 149.37% |
| American Indian and Alaskan Native | 0% | 1.65% | 0% |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 0% | 0.27% | 0% |