Explore the Family Name Whitehorn
The meaning of Whitehorn
English (southern): nickname from a Middle English compound of uncertain meaning. The first element is Middle English whit ‘white, fair, or comely’, and the second is Middle English horn, which had many senses: ‘horn of an animal; drinking horn; the supposed horn of a cuckold; fingernail or toe-nail’. Compare the English name Pinhorn, where the first element is probably Middle English pin ‘pin, something small or worthless’. Seltén suggests that horn in compounds like these denotes ‘head’. Whitehorn might have denoted someone with a white head of hair, but this sense of horn is otherwise unknown in English. The name has nothing to do with the town of Whithorn in Wigtownshire, Scotland, though it might in theory represent an unidentified placename or place description of the same origin, from Old English hwīt ‘white’ + ærn ‘building’.
Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.
How common is the last name Whitehorn in the United States?
Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Whitehorn saw a minor shift in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it ranked 20,468 in terms of popularity and rose slightly to rank 21,019 in 2010, showing a change of -2.69%. The count, however, increased from 1,205 to 1,251, marking a growth of 3.82%. Despite this increase, the proportion of individuals with the Whitehorn surname per 100k people fell by 6.67%, from 0.45 in 2000 to 0.42 in 2010.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #20,468 | #21,019 | -2.69% |
| Count | 1,205 | 1,251 | 3.82% |
| Proportion per 100k | 0.45 | 0.42 | -6.67% |
Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Whitehorn
The ethnicity data for the surname Whitehorn, also derived from the Decennial U.S. Census, indicates some significant changes over a decade. While the share of those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander and Two or more races saw marginal increases of 28% and 0.24% respectively, the proportion of White individuals decreased by 6.40%. However, there was a significant surge of 234.07% in those identifying as Hispanic, increasing from 0.91% in 2000 to 3.04% in 2010. Similarly, the percentage of Black identifiers rose from 29.21% to 31.41%, an increase of 7.53%. Conversely, the proportion of American Indian and Alaskan Native identifiers fell by 14.01%, from 6.14% in 2000 to 5.28% in 2010.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 58.59% | 54.84% | -6.4% |
| Black | 29.21% | 31.41% | 7.53% |
| American Indian and Alaskan Native | 6.14% | 5.28% | -14.01% |
| Two or More Races | 4.15% | 4.16% | 0.24% |
| Hispanic | 0.91% | 3.04% | 234.07% |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 1% | 1.28% | 28% |