Old Surname

57,001st
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 8,887 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
England
Highest density in:
New Zealand

Old Surname Definition:

(1) Nick 'the old'; compare Young, Senior, Youngman, Younghusband, &c.

Thomas le Old, Somerset, 1 Edward III: Kirby's Quest.

John le Olde, Gloucestershire, III, Writs of Parliament.

Henry Olde, Close Rolls, 7 Richard II.

Read More About This Surname

Old Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England2,0271:27,4883,740
United States1,7291:209,63520,512
Iran1,6381:46,8765,314
Australia7691:35,1054,627
Afghanistan5931:54,2211,827
New Zealand5661:8,0011,360
Canada2881:127,93613,339
Saudi Arabia1591:194,06229,524
Germany1511:533,14944,599
Egypt1221:753,57238,342
Zambia1141:139,03410,179
Scotland1131:47,3794,177
Wales851:36,4063,615
India681:11,280,373208,492
Jordan521:170,0478,882
South Africa421:1,289,94571,309
Mauritius341:38,0427,089
China301:45,577,3862,472
France271:2,460,101186,232
Barbados261:11,056800
Singapore261:211,83510,313
Netherlands201:844,35960,801
Papua New Guinea161:509,60763,542
Spain131:3,596,31069,669
Italy111:5,559,699110,230
Brazil91:23,786,037375,389
Malaysia91:3,277,136121,952
Thailand81:8,829,793476,604
United Arab Emirates81:1,145,28440,289
Mexico71:17,732,31550,495
Taiwan71:3,349,24920,155
Faroe Islands61:8,166786
Israel61:1,426,27275,466
Bermuda51:13,0561,849
Hong Kong51:1,467,0975,611
Bangladesh41:39,839,19317,324
Philippines41:25,309,556279,062
Sweden41:2,461,689157,534
Switzerland41:2,053,22997,179
Belgium31:3,832,215117,288
Denmark31:1,881,57267,227
Hungary31:3,272,09262,568
Nigeria31:59,047,586507,603
Norway31:1,714,09579,528
Pakistan31:59,547,962132,569
Uganda31:13,013,093160,157
Northern Ireland21:922,51818,701
Argentina21:21,371,707253,176
Indonesia21:66,124,597756,638
Jamaica21:1,434,97411,081
Japan21:63,922,14662,827
Kenya21:23,089,95083,168
Poland21:19,004,374199,659
Romania21:10,038,93580,612
South Korea21:25,620,1284,175
Syria21:9,650,51117,817
United States Virgin Islands21:55,1886,229
Ireland11:4,708,93929,543
Albania11:2,914,05529,474
Algeria11:38,631,551130,422
Austria11:8,515,435118,036
Azerbaijan11:9,649,12247,873
Bahamas11:391,7512,737
Bahrain11:1,348,60810,432
Bolivia11:10,616,43417,077
Bulgaria11:6,978,90586,260
Cambodia11:15,487,14614,824
Cameroon11:20,769,068227,406
Colombia11:47,774,07244,230
Croatia11:4,228,60499,289
Czechia11:10,633,469206,023
Fiji11:894,3914,568
Finland11:5,496,70284,025
Greece11:11,079,790145,225
Guam11:160,1214,893
Iraq11:35,021,65431,813
Lebanon11:5,637,08332,436
Liberia11:4,408,53547,110
Lithuania11:3,034,58847,401
Luxembourg11:580,54215,155
Malta11:430,2723,380
Mauritania11:4,094,86338,869
Morocco11:34,476,099111,471
Myanmar11:51,937,9852,166
Namibia11:2,409,40119,676
Portugal11:10,418,24125,048
Russia11:144,123,056881,408
Senegal11:14,579,34211,705
Serbia11:7,144,94838,459
Somalia11:13,452,0619,224
Sri Lanka11:20,808,56018,521
Tanzania11:52,941,613123,716
Tunisia11:610,62630,336
Turkey11:77,821,422191,047
Vietnam11:92,646,0548,382
Zimbabwe11:15,438,240133,260
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Ireland31:1,476,62229,385
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England1,1261:21,6483,068
Scotland481:77,9844,336
Wales321:49,0132,509
Guernsey81:4,082713
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States6371:78,8368,333

Old (1,104) may also be a first name.

Old Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

(1) Nick 'the old'; compare Young, Senior, Youngman, Younghusband, &c.

Thomas le Old, Somerset, 1 Edward III: Kirby's Quest.

John le Olde, Gloucestershire, III, Writs of Parliament.

Henry Olde, Close Rolls, 7 Richard II. John Olde, incumbent of Cubington, 1548: Dugdale's Warwickshire.

(2) Bapt. 'the son of Old,' whence the patronymic form Oulds.

William fil. Aide, Salop, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

1750. Married — John Old and Mary Duncan: St. George's Chapel, Mayfair.

— — Joshua Oulds and Mary Garnett: ibid.

A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (1896) by Charles Wareing Endell Bardsley

The English form of Auld, which see. William Old, cooper in Coldstream, 1752 (Lauder). Walter Gorn Old has written on theosophical subjects. Allan W. Old, H. M. Exchequer Office, Edinbergh, died 1942.

The Surnames of Scotland (1946) by George Fraser Black (1866-1948)

1. See remarks under Eld. 2. A parish in co. Northampton is so called.

Patronymica Britannica (1860) by Mark Antony Lower

From the Swedish, Olde; a personal name.

British Family Names: Their Origin and Meaning (1903) by Henry Barber

Old Last Name Facts

Where Does The Last Name Old Come From? nationality or country of origin

The last name Old (Arabic: اولد, Hassaniya-Arabic: ﻭﻟﺪ, Hindi: पूराे) is borne by more people in England than any other country/territory. It can be rendered as a variant:. Click here for other potential spellings of this last name.

How Common Is The Last Name Old? popularity and diffusion

The last name is the 57,001st most commonly held family name at a global level It is held by approximately 1 in 820,023 people. The surname Old is primarily found in Asia, where 30 percent of Old live; 26 percent live in South Asia and 25 percent live in Islamic South Asia. Old is also the 240,121st most frequently held forename in the world, held by 1,104 people.

This last name is most frequently held in England, where it is carried by 2,027 people, or 1 in 27,488. In England it is mostly found in: Cornwall, where 11 percent reside, Dorset, where 9 percent reside and Greater London, where 9 percent reside. Besides England this surname is found in 95 countries. It also occurs in The United States, where 19 percent reside and Iran, where 18 percent reside.

Old Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The incidence of Old has changed over time. In England the share of the population with the last name expanded 180 percent between 1881 and 2014; in The United States it expanded 271 percent between 1880 and 2014; in Scotland it expanded 235 percent between 1881 and 2014; in Wales it expanded 266 percent between 1881 and 2014 and in Ireland it decreased 67 percent between 1901 and 2014.

Old Last Name Statistics demography

The religious adherence of those holding the surname is principally Anglican (100%) in Ireland and Orthodox (88%) in Russia.

In The United States those bearing the Old surname are 7.25% more likely to be registered with the Republican Party than the national average, with 54.02% registered to vote for the political party.

The amount Old earn in different countries varies greatly. In South Africa they earn 106.61% more than the national average, earning R 490,980 per year; in United States they earn 6.07% more than the national average, earning $45,768 USD per year and in Canada they earn 0.22% more than the national average, earning $49,794 CAD per year.

Phonetically Similar Names

SurnameSimilarityWorldwide IncidencePrevalency
Gold8673,423/
Ould8622,696/
Olds8611,618/
Hold863,168/
Oldt86372/
Oeld865/
Șold865/
Oild863/
Oldz862/
Osld861/
Ohld861/
Uold861/
Oldh861/
Ojld861/
Ol8016,409/
Gould7597,489/
Goold753,501/
Holdt751,927/
Holds751,298/
Hould75951/
Oulds75439/
Goldt75256/
Holdø7565/
Hoeld7556/
Ouldt7512/
Golld7511/
Goild753/
Goldd752/
D'Old751/
Oiled751/
Oldsh751/
Oteld751/
Goyld751/
Hoyld751/
Hoold750/
Holdz750/
Olldt750/
Oldts750/
Oolds750/
Gol6732,171/
Ole678,804/
Hol677,327/
Ohl676,589/
Eld671,493/
Olt671,291/
Oul671,107/
Ald67725/
Olp67576/
Oll67553/
Ool67550/
Osl67426/
Oil67330/
Hoeldt6759/
Uld6732/
Oyl6729/
Hoyled6714/
Otl677/
Gouldd676/
Olehed676/
Olh675/
Hoglid675/
Uol674/
Oldova673/
Ojl673/
Țol672/
Goldtd671/
Gouldh671/
Oilltd671/
Hoseld671/
Ohield671/
Holdte671/
Ouldsh671/
Houlds671/
Goulld670/
Oldsch670/

Old Name Transliterations

TransliterationICU LatinPercentage of Incidence
Old in the Hindi language
पूराेpurae83.33
ओल्डolda16.67
Old in the Hassaniya-Arabic language
ﻭﻟﺪwld50
ﻭﻝwl50
Old in the Arabic language
اولدawld-

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Old Reference & Research

Old FamilyTree DNA Group - A group collating DNA test results for those who bear the surname, includes results of DNA tests and discussions.

Old FamilyTree DNA Project - A description of a group researching the paternal lines of men who bear the surname with the help of DNA analysis.

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Footnotes

  • Surnames are taken as the first part of an person's inherited family name, caste, clan name or in some cases patronymic
  • Descriptions may contain details on the name's etymology, origin, ethnicity and history. They are largely reproduced from 3rd party sources; diligence is advised on accepting their validity - more information
  • Name distribution statistics are generated from a global database of over 4 billion people - more information
  • Heatmap: Dark red means there is a higher occurrence of the name, transitioning to light yellow signifies a progressively lower occurrence. Clicking on selected countries will show mapping at a regional level
  • Rank: Name are ranked by incidence using the ordinal ranking method; the name that occurs the most is assigned a rank of 1; name that occur less frequently receive an incremented rank; if two or more name occur the same number of times they are assigned the same rank and successive rank is incremented by the total preceeding names
  • Ethnic group cannot necessarily be determined by geographic occurrence
  • Similar: Names listed in the "Similar" section are phonetically similar and may not have any relation to Old
  • To find out more about this surname's family history, lookup records on Family​Search, My​Heritage, FindMyPast and Ancestry. Further information may be obtained by DNA analysis