Explore the Family Name Waterfall

The meaning of Waterfall

English: habitational name from Waterfall, a place in Staffordshire, named from Old English wætergefall ‘place where a water course disappears below ground’. There is another place so called in Guisborough in North Yorkshire and a lost Waterfall in Pontefract, Yorkshire, both of which may also have contributed to the surname.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname 'Waterfall' has seen a slight increase between 2000 and 2010. In the year 2000, the rank of this surname was 85297 with a count of 204 individuals. However, by 2010, the rank had improved to 84748 with the count of individuals bearing this surname increasing by 8.33% to 221. Despite this increase in count, the proportion per 100k people decreased by 12.5% from 0.08 to 0.07, indicating that while the absolute number of people with this surname grew, their representation among the general population diminished slightly.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#85,297	#84,748	0.64%
Count	204	221	8.33%
Proportion per 100k	0.08	0.07	-12.5%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Waterfall

Looking at the ethnic identity associated with the surname 'Waterfall', according to the Decennial U.S. Census, there appears to be little diversity. The overwhelming majority, about 96.38% in 2010 (down slightly from 97.06% in 2000), identified as White. There were no individuals who identified as Asian/Pacific Islander, Two or more races, Hispanic, Black, or American Indian and Alaskan Native in both the 2000 and 2010 censuses. This data suggests that 'Waterfall' is predominantly a surname found within the White ethnicity.

	2000	2010	Change
White	97.06%	96.38%	-0.7%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Two or More Races	0%	0%	0%
Hispanic	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%