Explore the Family Name Porteous
The meaning of Porteous
English and Scottish: nickname from Middle English and Older Scots port(e)hors, portas, porte(i)s, portos, portus, porthous, porteus, portewas ‘portable breviary, prayer book’. It is a borrowing of Old French porte-hors, Anglo-Norman French porteose, porteho(r)s, port(h)eus, literally something ‘carried out of doors’. The surname may have been given to someone who habitually carried such a book, or for a scribe employed to write them. In modern times it is chiefly a Scottish surname, which probably accounts for its presence in northern England, but the name is also well evidenced in southeastern England in the medieval period and in northern Lincolnshire since the 17th century. The Scottish surname became established in Ireland by the mid-16th century.
Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.
How common is the last name Porteous in the United States?
Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Porteous has seen a slight increase from 2000 to 2010. In 2000, it was ranked at 25,633 and by 2010, it had moved up to 25,255—a change of 1.47 percent. The count of people with the surname also rose from 904 in 2000 to 981 in 2010, an 8.52 percent increase. However, the proportion of people with this surname per 100,000 decreased by 2.94 percent from 0.34 to 0.33.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #25,633 | #25,255 | 1.47% |
| Count | 904 | 981 | 8.52% |
| Proportion per 100k | 0.34 | 0.33 | -2.94% |
Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Porteous
The ethnic identity associated with the surname Porteous has changed somewhat over the same period, according to the Decennial U.S. Census data. The percentage of people identified as White decreased from 86.62 percent in 2000 to 80.63 percent in 2010, while those identified as Hispanic increased from 2.99 percent to 5.71 percent. There was a slight increase in those identifying as Black, from 8.08 percent to 9.99 percent, and those identifying with two or more races also increased from 1.11 percent to 1.53 percent. New entries into the ethnicity table include those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander and American Indian and Alaskan Native, which were not represented in 2000 but made up 0.82 percent and 1.33 percent respectively in 2010.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 86.62% | 80.63% | -6.92% |
| Black | 8.08% | 9.99% | 23.64% |
| Hispanic | 2.99% | 5.71% | 90.97% |
| Two or More Races | 1.11% | 1.53% | 37.84% |
| American Indian and Alaskan Native | 0% | 1.33% | 0% |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 0% | 0.82% | 0% |