Explore the Family Name Tennis

The meaning of Tennis

1. Americanized form (and a rare German variant) of North German, East Frisian, or North Frisian Tönnies (see Tonnies). Compare Tennies. 2. Americanized form of Dutch Teunis: from a short form of the personal name Antonius (see Anthony). 3. English (Welsh borders): perhaps a variant of Dennis 1.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname "Tennis" experienced a slight decline between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it ranked 16,729 among all surnames, dropping to 17,789 in 2010, reflecting a change of -6.34%. The total count of individuals with this surname remained steady at 1,574 in both years. The proportion of the population with this surname also dropped from 0.58 per 100,000 people in 2000 to 0.53 in 2010, a decrease of 8.62%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#16,729	#17,789	-6.34%
Count	1,574	1,574	0%
Proportion per 100k	0.58	0.53	-8.62%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Tennis

The ethnic identity associated with the surname "Tennis" varied slightly over the same period. According to the Decennial U.S. Census, the majority of individuals with this surname identified as White, with a slight increase from 92.63% in 2000 to 93.52% in 2010. Those identifying as Hispanic rose by 6.64%, while those identifying as Black increased by 5.88%. Individuals identifying with two or more races decreased from 2.73% to 1.21%. Notably, the census began recording individuals identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander and American Indian and Alaskan Native with this surname in 2010, with proportions of 0.38% and 0.76%, respectively.

	2000	2010	Change
White	92.63%	93.52%	0.96%
Hispanic	2.86%	3.05%	6.64%
Two or More Races	2.73%	1.21%	-55.68%
Black	1.02%	1.08%	5.88%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0.76%	0%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0.38%	0%