Explore the Family Name Underdown

The meaning of Underdown

English (Kent): topographic name for someone who lived ‘(at the) foot of the hill’ or a habitational name from a place called Underdown, from Middle English, Old English under ‘under, beneath’ + Middle English doun, Old English dūn ‘hill’.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Underdown saw a slight decrease in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, Underdown was ranked 34,399th most common surname, but its rank slipped to 34,916 by 2010, showing a 1.5% decrease. However, the actual count of individuals with the Underdown surname increased from 623 to 646 during this time period, which represents a 3.69% growth. The proportion per 100k people also slightly dropped by 4.35%, going down from 0.23 to 0.22.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#34,399	#34,916	-1.5%
Count	623	646	3.69%
Proportion per 100k	0.23	0.22	-4.35%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Underdown

In terms of ethnic identity, the majority of individuals with the Underdown surname identified as White in both 2000 and 2010, according to the Decennial U.S. Census data. The percentage remained stable at around 91%. Individuals identifying as Black made up the second largest group, although their percentage slightly decreased from 5.62% to 5.57%. There was a notable decrease in those identifying as two or more races, falling from 1.93% to 0.77%. Interestingly, while there were no individuals who identified as Hispanic in 2000, this changed to 1.55% in 2010. No persons with the surname Underdown identified as Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian and Alaskan Native during this period.

	2000	2010	Change
White	91.17%	91.18%	0.01%
Black	5.62%	5.57%	-0.89%
Hispanic	0%	1.55%	0%
Two or More Races	1.93%	0.77%	-60.1%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%