Explore the Family Name Whittier

The meaning of Whittier

English: occupational name for a dresser of white leather, someone who tawed skins into whitleather, from Middle English whīt ‘white’ + tawyere, towyere, tewere, an agent noun from West Saxon Old English tāwian, Anglian tēwian ‘to taw’. History: John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–92), poet and active opponent of slavery, was descended from Thomas Whittier, who came to MA from England in 1638.

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

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

Based on data derived from the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Whittier saw a decrease in its popularity rank between 2000 and 2010, moving from 11,696 to 12,047, which represents a 3% drop. However, the total count of individuals bearing the surname increased by 5.37% during this period, from 2,457 to 2,589. The representation of the Whittier surname per 100,000 people also experienced a slight decrease of 3.3%, moving from 0.91 to 0.88.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#11,696	#12,047	-3%
Count	2,457	2,589	5.37%
Proportion per 100k	0.91	0.88	-3.3%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Whittier

In terms of ethnic identity, the data from the Decennial U.S. Census shows that in 2010, the majority of individuals with the Whittier surname identified as White, although there was a 5.06% decrease from 2000 figures. On the other hand, those identifying as Black or African American saw an increase of 40.31%. The Hispanic ethnicity also experienced substantial growth with a 143.86% increase. Those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander and American Indian and Alaskan Native both decreased by 15.94% and 9.59% respectively. Meanwhile, those who identified with two or more races increased by 19.79%.

	2000	2010	Change
White	87.63%	83.2%	-5.06%
Black	8.51%	11.94%	40.31%
Two or More Races	1.87%	2.24%	19.79%
Hispanic	0.57%	1.39%	143.86%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0.73%	0.66%	-9.59%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.69%	0.58%	-15.94%