Explore the Family Name People

The meaning of People

English (Hampshire and Wiltshire): variant of Pepall, a patronymic from the Middle English personal name Pepel, apparently a pet form of Pepin (see Peppin), or sometimes perhaps a habitational name from a placename of unknown identity or origin.

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

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

According to the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname "People" has seen a decrease from 2000 to 2010. In 2000, it ranked 37,429 in popularity and dropped to 43,285 by 2010, reflecting a -15.65% change. The count of those with this surname also decreased from 560 in 2000 to 499 in 2010, a decline of -10.89%. The proportion per 100,000 people saw a similar downward trend, going from 0.21 in 2000 to 0.17 in 2010, a -19.05% change.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#37,429	#43,285	-15.65%
Count	560	499	-10.89%
Proportion per 100k	0.21	0.17	-19.05%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name People

In terms of ethnicity, data from the Decennial U.S. Census shows that the majority of individuals with the surname "People" identify as Black, though the percentage decreased slightly from 81.79% in 2000 to 75.35% in 2010. The second largest ethnic identity group is White, which saw an increase from 13.75% in 2000 to 19.04% in 2010. There was also an increase in those identifying with two or more races, rising from 1.61% to 2.20%, a change of 36.65%. Meanwhile, the percentage of Hispanic individuals decreased from 2.32% to 1.80%. There were no individuals who identified as Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian and Alaskan Native during these years.

	2000	2010	Change
Black	81.79%	75.35%	-7.87%
White	13.75%	19.04%	38.47%
Two or More Races	1.61%	2.2%	36.65%
Hispanic	2.32%	1.8%	-22.41%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%