Explore the Family Name Opie
The meaning of Opie
English (Devon and Cornwall): from an unrecorded Middle English personal name Opy or Oppy, which is attested in 16th-century Cornwall as a pet form of Middle English Osbert (mainly a Norman name, an Old French borrowing of ancient Germanic Oseberht, from ōs ‘god’ + berht ‘bright’). There may have also been a voiced pet form Oby (see Hobby). Loss of -s- in Osbert may explain some examples of Hobart, though this name usually had a different origin. Middle English Osbert is mainly found in southern England, the Midlands, and Essex, and it was especially favoured in West Cornwall, where its usual pet form was Hoskin. In England generally it was frequently confused with the less common personal name Osbern (see Osborne). Opy was probably a pet form of Osbern as well.
Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.
How common is the last name Opie in the United States?
Based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname Opie saw a minimal shift between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it ranked as the 25398th most popular surname in the United States, with an estimated 915 individuals carrying this last name. By 2010, although its rank slightly dropped to 25601, the count of individuals with the surname Opie increased by 5.36% to 964. The proportion of individuals bearing the Opie surname per 100,000 population decreased by 2.94%, signifying a slight decrease in the popularity of this surname over the decade.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #25,398 | #25,601 | -0.8% |
| Count | 915 | 964 | 5.36% |
| Proportion per 100k | 0.34 | 0.33 | -2.94% |
Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Opie
The ethnic identity associated with the Opie surname also experienced changes from 2000 to 2010, according to the Decennial U.S. Census data. In 2000, the majority of people with this surname identified as White (82.19%), followed by those identifying as Black (10.71%), Hispanic (3.39%), Two or more races (2.51%), American Indian and Alaskan Native (0.66%), and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.55%). By 2010, while White remained the predominant ethnicity associated with the surname, its percentage decreased to 80.71%. There were increases in the Black and Asian/Pacific Islander categories, which rose to 12.55% and 1.14% respectively. Meanwhile, the percentages of individuals identifying as Hispanic, Two or more races, and American Indian and Alaskan Native all decreased.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 82.19% | 80.71% | -1.8% |
| Black | 10.71% | 12.55% | 17.18% |
| Hispanic | 3.39% | 2.7% | -20.35% |
| Two or More Races | 2.51% | 2.28% | -9.16% |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 0.55% | 1.14% | 107.27% |
| American Indian and Alaskan Native | 0.66% | 0.62% | -6.06% |