Explore the Family Name Tubman

The meaning of Tubman

English (northern): 1. occupational name from the Middle English personal name Tub(b)e (see Tubb) + -man ‘servant of Tub(b)e’. 2. nickname from Middle English tub(be) ‘tub, large wooden vessel formed of staves and hoops’ + -man, for a cooper or someone who made or used tubs. Compare Tubb.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Tubman saw a slight drop in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In the year 2000, Tubman ranked 27,618th in terms of most common surnames, but by 2010, it had slipped to 30,013th place, marking an 8.67% decrease in rank. Additionally, the number of individuals bearing the surname Tubman also declined from 821 in 2000 to 782 in 2010, a reduction of about 4.75%. The proportion of people with this surname per 100,000 also witnessed a 10% decrease.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#27,618	#30,013	-8.67%
Count	821	782	-4.75%
Proportion per 100k	0.3	0.27	-10%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Tubman

Discussing the ethnic identity associated with the surname Tubman, the Decennial U.S. Census data reveals some interesting trends. While the percentage of Tubmans identifying as white decreased slightly from 63.7% in 2000 to 61.13% in 2010, those identifying as Black saw a small increase from 34.35% to 36.06%. There was no recorded change for those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian and Alaskan Native. Interestingly, there was a new emergence of Tubmans identifying as Hispanic in 2010, while the number of those identifying with two or more races dropped significantly from 1.34% to 0.77%.

	2000	2010	Change
White	63.7%	61.13%	-4.03%
Black	34.35%	36.06%	4.98%
Hispanic	0%	1.66%	0%
Two or More Races	1.34%	0.77%	-42.54%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%