Explore the Family Name Winch
The meaning of Winch
1. English: from Middle English winche ‘winch, pulley’ (Old English wince), later meaning ‘well’, presumably because a winch would have been used to extract water from a well. The surname is probably a topographic name for someone who lived by a well. Compare Wink. This may also be a topographic name denoting someone who lived by a sharp bend in a river or valley, from a transferred sense of winche ‘winch, pulley’. This term and sense appears to be behind some placenames, such as Wincham (Kent) and Winchbottom (Buckinghamshire). 2. English: habitational name from East and West Winch (Norfolk). The placenames probably derive from Old English winn ‘pasture, meadow’ + wīc ‘dwelling, specialized farmstead’. 3. English: perhaps also a nickname from a further transferred use of the Middle English word in sense 1 above, for a lapwing (compare Middle English lapwink ‘lapwing’, Old English hlēapewince) or other bird known for its leaping and twisting flight. 4. Perhaps also an Americanized form of German Wintsch or its variant Wüntsch (see Wuensch).
Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.
How common is the last name Winch in the United States?
Based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Winch has seen a slight decrease in popularity over the decade from 2000 to 2010. In 2000, the rank of the Winch surname was 15,652, however, by 2010 it had slipped to 17,169, a change of -9.69%. Similarly, the count of individuals with this surname also decreased, from 1,714 in 2000 to 1,650 in 2010. This represents a decline of -3.73%. The proportion per 100k people also declined during this period from 0.64 to 0.56, a drop of -12.5%.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #15,652 | #17,169 | -9.69% |
| Count | 1,714 | 1,650 | -3.73% |
| Proportion per 100k | 0.64 | 0.56 | -12.5% |
Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Winch
The ethnicity distribution for the surname Winch, according to the Decennial U.S. Census, shows that majority of people with this surname identified as White, with 96.38% in 2000 and 95.27% in 2010. However, there were small changes noted among other ethnic identities. Those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander dropped from 0.88% in 2000 to zero in 2010. Conversely, those belonging to two or more races increased from 0.88% to 1.52%, and those identifying as Hispanic rose from 1.34% to 1.45%. Additionally, 0.85% identified as Black in 2010, where none had in 2000. No individuals identified as American Indian and Alaskan Native in either year.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 96.38% | 95.27% | -1.15% |
| Two or More Races | 0.88% | 1.52% | 72.73% |
| Hispanic | 1.34% | 1.45% | 8.21% |
| Black | 0% | 0.85% | 0% |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 0.88% | 0% | 0% |
| American Indian and Alaskan Native | 0% | 0% | 0% |