Explore the Family Name Turtle

The meaning of Turtle

English: 1. variant of Turkel 2. 2. nickname from Middle English turtel, turtle ‘turtle dove’ (Old English turtle, turtla). 3. sometimes possibly a nickname from Old French tourtel, a diminutive of tourt ‘crooked’, for a disabled or deformed person.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Turtle saw a decrease in popularity from 2000 to 2010. In 2000, it was ranked as the 55,849th most popular surname, but by 2010, it fell to 61,123rd place, signifying a drop of 9.44%. The count of people with this surname also declined over the same period from 343 to 329, marking a 4.08% decrease. Accordingly, the proportion of the Turtle surname per 100,000 people decreased by 15.38%, from 0.13 in 2000 to 0.11 in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#55,849	#61,123	-9.44%
Count	343	329	-4.08%
Proportion per 100k	0.13	0.11	-15.38%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Turtle

When considering the ethnicity associated with the Turtle surname, the Decennial U.S. Census data reveals some interesting shifts between 2000 and 2010. In both years, there were no reported individuals of Asian/Pacific Islander or Black ethnicity bearing the surname. The percentage of those identifying as White decreased slightly from 70.55% to 66.57%. However, the proportion identifying as two or more ethnicities increased substantially from 2.33% to 4.26%. There was also a moderate increase in those of Hispanic ethnicity, growing from 1.75% to 2.43%. Notably, the percentage of American Indian and Alaskan Natives with the Turtle surname remained relatively stable, moving from 24.49% in 2000 to 24.92% in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
White	70.55%	66.57%	-5.64%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	24.49%	24.92%	1.76%
Two or More Races	2.33%	4.26%	82.83%
Hispanic	1.75%	2.43%	38.86%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%