Explore the Family Name Whitham

The meaning of Whitham

English (Yorkshire and Lancashire): perhaps, as Redmonds suggests, a habitational name from Whitwham in Northumberland (named from Old English hwīt ‘white’ + hwamm ‘corner, angle’, Old Scandinaian hvammr ‘valley, nook’), the connection being that the Percy family in that county had lands in Ribblesdale. The name may sometimes have been confused with Witham.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Whitham witnessed a minimal shift in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it ranked 19,554 and by 2010, it slightly dropped to position 19,642, marking a decrease of 0.45%. However, the number of individuals with the Whitham surname grew by 7.52% during the same period, rising from 1,277 in 2000 to 1,373 in 2010. Despite this growth, the proportion per 100,000 remained consistent at 0.47 for both years.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#19,554	#19,642	-0.45%
Count	1,277	1,373	7.52%
Proportion per 100k	0.47	0.47	0%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Whitham

In terms of ethnic identity, the data from the Decennial U.S. Census shows that between 2000 and 2010, there was a notable increase among those with the Whitham surname identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander (48.72% increase) and Hispanic (62.77% increase). Those identifying as having two or more races also saw a substantial increase of 40%. The largest group, however, remained those identifying as White, though the percentage did slightly decrease by 0.93% from 96.16% in 2000 to 95.27% in 2010. There were declines in the numbers identifying as Black and American Indian and Alaskan Native, down 20.00% and 37.14% respectively.

	2000	2010	Change
White	96.16%	95.27%	-0.93%
Two or More Races	1.25%	1.75%	40%
Hispanic	0.94%	1.53%	62.77%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.39%	0.58%	48.72%
Black	0.55%	0.44%	-20%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0.7%	0.44%	-37.14%