Explore the Family Name Tree

The meaning of Tree

English (mainly southeastern): from Middle English tre, treo, treu, trew, trow ‘tree’ (Old English trēo(w)). The surname may be topographic, for someone who lived by a prominent tree, or toponymic, from a place so named, such as Tree, Trew, True, and Trow in Devon. See also Trewin.

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

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

Based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Tree has seen a rise in popularity over the years. In 2000, it ranked 35,957th in terms of commonality among surnames in the United States and increased to rank 35,057 by 2010, marking a 2.5% change. The number of people carrying this surname also rose from 590 in 2000 to 643 in 2010, an increase of 8.98%. The proportion per 100,000 people remained consistent at 0.22 for both years.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#35,957	#35,057	2.5%
Count	590	643	8.98%
Proportion per 100k	0.22	0.22	0%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Tree

The ethnic identity linked with the surname Tree, as reflected in the Decennial U.S. Census data, has shown some shifts between 2000 and 2010. The percentage of those identifying as White increased slightly from 73.22% to 74.34%, while those identifying as Black saw a small uptick from 5.42% to 5.75%. Individuals identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander showed a slight increase from 3.05% to 3.11%. However, there was a decrease in individuals who identify as two or more races (from 2.20% to 1.71%) and in the Hispanic category (from 2.88% to 2.49%). People identifying as American Indian and Alaskan Native decreased from 13.22% in 2000 to 12.60% in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
White	73.22%	74.34%	1.53%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	13.22%	12.6%	-4.69%
Black	5.42%	5.75%	6.09%
Asian/Pacific Islander	3.05%	3.11%	1.97%
Hispanic	2.88%	2.49%	-13.54%
Two or More Races	2.2%	1.71%	-22.27%