Explore the Family Name Posson

The meaning of Posson

1. Altered form of German Basson or Bason, or perhaps Passon. 2. French: from a regional variant of poisson ‘fish’ (see Poisson). History: Many (if not most) American bearers of this surname are descended from Johann Nicholas Basson or Bason, who came to NJ from Germany c.1710–13. His surname is also recorded as Passon, a surname which is much more common in Germany than Basson and Bason.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Posson saw a decrease in popularity from 2000 to 2010. In 2000, Posson held the rank of 71,143 in terms of popularity but dropped to 90,853 by 2010, indicating a significant decline of 27.7%. Similarly, the count of individuals carrying this surname decreased from 256 in 2000 to 203 in 2010, marking a 20.7% reduction. The proportion of Possons per 100,000 people also reduced by 22.22%, from 0.09 in 2000 to 0.07 in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#71,143	#90,853	-27.7%
Count	256	203	-20.7%
Proportion per 100k	0.09	0.07	-22.22%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Posson

Regarding ethnic identity, according to the Decennial U.S. Census, the majority of those with the Posson surname identify as White, although there was a slight decrease from 96.88% in 2000 to 94.58% in 2010. The Hispanic population with this surname increased from 0% in 2000 to 4.43% in 2010. There were no changes in the percentages for Asian/Pacific Islander, Two or more races, Black, and American Indian and Alaskan Native from 2000 to 2010; these percentages remained at 0.00. However, it is worth noting that the census data may have been suppressed for privacy reasons in certain cases, making exact numbers unavailable.

	2000	2010	Change
White	96.88%	94.58%	-2.37%
Hispanic	0%	4.43%	0%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Two or More Races	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%