The Fish surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 24,924 people carried this name — #1,425 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 11,800 people counted. That is up 1% from 24,612 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Fish surname

From fish, a metonymic occupational surname for a fish seller or a nickname for someone who resembled a fish. It could also be an Americanized spelling of German Fisch.

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Fish» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.

As an English and Welsh surname

Bardsley classes it as a nickname: ‘the fish’.

An early record he cites: Radulphus Fysche, 1379 — Poll Tax, West Riding of Yorkshire.

His entry covers Fish and Fishe.

From Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (London: Henry Frowde, 1901), p. 289 · public domain.

Among the farmers of England and Wales, 1880s

Fish was found among the farmers of Lancashire: 10 in every 10,000.

Guppy counted the farmers listed in each county’s directory and recorded a name only where it reached about 7 in every 10,000; where it does not appear, it was rarer than that, not absent.

Where it concentrates, on the map

Per 10,000 farmers, by county

Lancashire 10

H. B. Guppy, «Homes of Family Names in Great Britain» (London, 1890), alphabetical list of English and Welsh names — public domain · farmers in Kelly’s Post Office Directories of the 1880s, per 10,000 farmers in each county.

In the first U.S. census, 1790

222 families named Fish, or a close spelling, were counted in 1790.

Each family is counted by its head. About 1,314 people lived in those households, 5.9 to a family on average. The table counts it together with one other spelling. The table lists white heads of families only, in the twelve states whose 1790 records survive; Virginia’s figures come from state lists of 1782–1785.

Families, by state

Massachusetts 85
Connecticut 38
New York 29
Rhode Island 25
Vermont 16
Maine 7
Pennsylvania 7
North Carolina 6
Maryland 5
New Hampshire 3
South Carolina 1

U.S. Census Bureau, «A Century of Population Growth from the First Census of the United States to the Twelfth, 1790–1900» (Washington, 1909), table 111, p. 240 — public domain · names carried by at least 100 white persons in 1790.

In print

Fish in American newspapers,
1874–1906.

Newspaper page from New-york Tribune carrying the name Fish
New-york Tribune 1893-09-08
Newspaper page from New-york Tribune carrying the name Fish
New-york Tribune 1906-10-18
Newspaper page from The New York Herald carrying the name Fish
The New York Herald 1874-01-06

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 27,649 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Fish in Australian newspapers,
1820s–2010s.

31,242 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Fish. The most, 5,356, date from the 1910s. New South Wales has the most articles, but weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, the name stands out most in Tasmania, at 1.9 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 10,262
Victoria 7,516
Queensland 5,806
Tasmania 3,800
South Australia 1,891
Western Australia 1,719
ACT (Canberra) 163
Northern Territory 29

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Fish.

Who carried it

People named Fish,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Thomas Fish d. 1782 · writer
  • Peter Fish d. 2021 · composer
  • William Fish d. 1591 · politician
  • Nicholas Fish d. 1558 · politician
  • Walter Fish d. 1585 · politician
  • Helen Fish d. 1958

Wikidata (CC0) · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Fish,
in the records of 7 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States3,169 records

3,169 records of the Fish name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 903
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 821
  • Other U.S. records 1,445
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Audley O. Fish

    Born 1916 in Pennsylvania. Enlisted 1945 at Cleveland, Ohio; policeman from Mahoning County, Ohio. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1998, buried at Lowellville Cemetery, Ohio.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Gordon Alidean Fish

    Born 1950; from St Joseph, Missouri. U.S. Army, infantryman; killed in action 1971 in Phuoc Long, South Vietnam.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Goldman Fish

    Arrived at New York in 1892 aboard the Majestic from Liverpool and Queenstown, aged 35; clerk. From Kent, England; bound for New York.

    U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)

Showing 3 of 3,169 records for Fish in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · Sacramento County, Historic Burials (CC BY 4.0) · U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain) · New York State, Open NY (police and firefighter memorial rolls). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Australia747 records

747 records of the Fish name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 321
  • Tasmanian Names Index 197
  • Other Australian records 229
  1. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record Robert Fish

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Southworth, sailing from London in 1830. Native of Carlton le Moorland, Lincolnshire. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1843.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record James Fish

    Died 1881 in Launceston, Tasmania, aged 55. Will registered in Tasmania in 1881.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Jane Fish

    Arrived in Victoria in 1852 aboard the Tippoo Saib, aged 36; English.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 747 records for Fish in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) · State Library of Western Australia (CC BY 4.0) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, with the convicts going on board, etching by Edward William Cooke, 1829, Royal Museums Greenwich (public domain); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Canada223 records

223 records of the Fish name in Canada
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 152
  • City of Calgary cemetery records 24
  • Other Canadian records 47
  1. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Chas Fish

    Came to Ontario in 1879 aboard the Sardinian, landing at Quebec, bound for Brampton, Ontario; English.

    Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario.
  2. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Arthur Paul Fish

    Buried in 1995 at Queen's Park Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta, aged 92.

    City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary.
  3. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Bessie Roselle Fish

    Died 1960 in Cambridge, Hants, Nova Scotia.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.

Showing 3 of 223 records for Fish in Canada.

Counts: Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. · City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. · Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg. · Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario. · Contains information provided by the City of Waterloo under licence. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).

United Kingdom45 records

45 records of the Fish name in the United Kingdom
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 32
  • Stirling Council burial records 8
  • St James's burial ground, Euston (London), 1789–1853 5
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record George Fish

    Died 1972, aged 72; buried at Dunblane Cemetery, Stirling, Scotland.

    Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
  2. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Thomas Fish

    Buried in 1816 at St James's burial ground, Euston, London, aged 52.

    MOLA and HS2, St James's burial ground data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
  3. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record F. Fish

    Cheshire Regiment. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1918.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)

Showing 3 of 45 records for Fish in the United Kingdom.

Counts: National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. · MOLA and HS2, St James's burial ground data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0); C. & E. Morton Ltd roll of honour, 1914–1919, photo by Adrian S Pye via Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0).

New Zealand2 records

2 records of the Fish name in New Zealand Christchurch City cemetery records
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record James Fish

    Died 1908, aged 72; buried at Linwood Cemetery, Christchurch, Canterbury.

    Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Mary Fish

    Died 1910, aged 78; buried at Addington Cemetery, Christchurch, Canterbury.

    Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0)

Counts: Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0).

France1 record

1 record of the Fish name in France France's national death register, 1970–2001
  1. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Jacqueline Jamelle Fish

    Born 1961 in Dijon; died 1993 in Villecomte (Côte-d'Or).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)

Counts: Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Death register of Nice, 1930, Archives départementales des Alpes-Maritimes (public domain).

Netherlands1 record

1 record of the Fish name in the Netherlands Dutch church registers before 1811
  1. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Margaret Fish

    Married in 1718 in Rotterdam.

    Open Archives, Stadsarchief Rotterdam (CC BY 4.0)

Counts: Open Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (public domain).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Fish.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Fish is.
A volume says what happened to it.

Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.

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