The Humphreys surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 13,895 people carried this name — #2,593 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 21,200 people counted. That is up 3% from 13,548 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Humphreys surname

A surname originating as a patronymic.

From Humphrey + -s (patronymic suffix).

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Humphreys» (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 baptismal name, from a given name: ‘the son of Humphrey’.

An early record he cites: John Hunfray, Oxfordshire, 1273 — Hundred Rolls.

His entry covers Humphery, Humphrey, Humphreys, Humphreyson, Humphries, Humphris and Humphry.

From Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (London: Henry Frowde, 1901), p. 408 · public domain.

In Argentina’s national register

At least 160 people named Humphreys live in Argentina.

RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Chubut.

Where it concentrates, on the map

Where they live today

Chubut 81
Buenos Aires Province 34
Santa Cruz 24
City of Buenos Aires 21

RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.

In France’s civil register

France’s register of deaths holds 28 people named Humphreys.

Most of them — 26 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 2 départements, most often Moselle.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they were born

Born outside France 26
Moselle 1
Guadeloupe 1

Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.

In the Nordic population registers

40 people named Humphreys is counted in Sweden.

Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published.

Counted, by country

Sweden (2022) 40

Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown).

Among the farmers of England and Wales, 1880s

Humphreys was found among the farmers of 7 counties.

It was most frequent in North Wales: 75 in every 10,000 farmers there — about 1 in 133. 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. His list gives one count for the spellings Humphreys and Humphries.

Where it concentrates, on the map

Per 10,000 farmers, by county

North Wales 75
Shropshire 30
Wiltshire 22
Gloucestershire 20
Buckinghamshire 18
Worcestershire 16
Herefordshire 14

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 Scotland’s registers today

Humphreys was recorded 13 times in Scotland’s registers of births, marriages and deaths in 2025.

That made it the 1564th most common name in those registers, shared with others on the same count. In 1975, the first year of the series, the count was 17. Each birth counts the child’s surname, each marriage both partners’ and each death the surname of the person who died — a yearly count of registrations, not of the people who live in Scotland.

National Records of Scotland, «Most Common Surnames, 2025» (published 26 May 2026): every surname recorded 10 or more times in the 2025 registers, and the series from 1975 · different spellings are counted separately — © Crown copyright 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

In the first U.S. census, 1790

In 1790, Humphreys was counted together with Humphrey: 290 families in all.

Each family is counted by its head. About 1,668 people lived in those households, 5.8 to a family on average. The census counted these spellings together: Humphrey, Humfrey, Humfry, Humphery, Humphes, Humphress, Humphreys, Humphries, Humphris, Humphriss, Humphrˢ, Humphˢ, Humphry, Humphryes, Humphrys, Humphys, Humpress, Humpris, Humprys, Umfrey, Umphres, Umphreys, Umphries, Umphry, Umphrys. 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

Connecticut 59
North Carolina 50
Massachusetts 38
Virginia 35
Pennsylvania 29
New York 25
South Carolina 19
Maine 9
New Hampshire 9
Vermont 8
Rhode Island 6
Maryland 3

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. 246 — public domain · names carried by at least 100 white persons in 1790.

In print

Humphreys in American newspapers,
1903–1922.

Newspaper page from The St. Louis Republic carrying the name Humphreys
The St. Louis Republic 1903-06-14
Newspaper page from The St. Louis Republic carrying the name Humphreys
The St. Louis Republic 1903-03-01
Newspaper page from Omaha Daily Bee carrying the name Humphreys
Omaha Daily Bee 1922-04-16

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 278,379 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Humphreys in Australian newspapers,
1820s–2010s.

44,981 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Humphreys. The most, 9,119, date from the 1930s. Weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, it stands out most in Queensland, at 1.6 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

Queensland 13,690
New South Wales 13,200
Victoria 9,050
South Australia 3,590
Tasmania 2,660
Western Australia 2,108
ACT (Canberra) 538
Northern Territory 20

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

Who carried it

People named Humphreys,
with a public archive behind them.

  • John Hunter Humphreys
    John Hunter Humphreys d. 1852 · Anglican priest
  • Mary Ellen Hume Humphreys d. 1923 · housewife
  • Michael Humphreys d. 1626 · politician
  • Harry Humphreys d. 1987 · military personnel
  • Martha Humphreys d. 1841
  • Margaret Macdonald Humphreys d. 1963

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Humphreys,
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 States1,897 records

1,897 records of the Humphreys name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 580
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 413
  • Other U.S. records 904
  1. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Richard Douglas Humphreys

    Born 1931; from Jackson County, Ohio. U.S. Army, light weapons infantryman; killed in action 1950 in North Korea. Buried at Fairmount Cemetery, Jackson, Ohio.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record George J. Humphreys

    Born 1920 in Alabama. Enlisted 1942 at Fort McPherson Atlanta, Georgia; draftsman. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1993, buried at Marietta National Cemetery, Georgia.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Margaret Humphreys

    Arrived at New York in 1892 aboard the Ethiopia from Moville, aged 25; housekeeper. From Newcastle, England; bound for Chicago.

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

Showing 3 of 1,897 records for Humphreys in the United States.

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

Australia1,489 records

1,489 records of the Humphreys name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 736
  • Tasmanian Names Index 232
  • Other Australian records 521
  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 Jane Humphreys

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Tory, sailing from London in 1848. Native of Dublin, Dublin. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1850.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  2. 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 James Humphreys

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Woodford, sailing from London in 1826. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1841.

    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 Ellen Humphreys

    Arrived in Victoria in 1857 aboard the Ida, aged 7; English.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 1,489 records for Humphreys 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) · ACT Government, Transport Canberra and City Services (CC BY 4.0) · State Library of Western Australia (CC BY 4.0) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · City of Ballarat, Avenue of Honour Plaques (CC BY 3.0 AU). 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); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

United Kingdom283 records

283 records of the Humphreys name in the United Kingdom
  • Welsh wills index cards 193
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 77
  • Other British records 13
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Francis K. Humphreys

    Buried in 1957 at Ballengeich Cemetery, Stirling, Scotland, aged 69.

    Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
  2. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record Evan Humphreys

    Will proved in 1912; of Llangybi, Carnarvon.

    National Library of Wales, Wills Index Cards (CC0)
  3. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record Arthur Idwal Humphreys

    Born 1892. Died 1917. Named in the University of Edinburgh roll of honour, 1914-1919.

    National Library of Scotland, Rolls of Honour (public domain)

Showing 3 of 283 records for Humphreys in the United Kingdom.

Counts: National Library of Wales, Wills Index Cards (CC0) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · MOLA and HS2, St James's burial ground data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. · National Library of Scotland, Rolls of Honour (public domain) · Stirling Council. 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); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain); C. & E. Morton Ltd roll of honour, 1914–1919, photo by Adrian S Pye via Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Canada105 records

105 records of the Humphreys name in Canada
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 63
  • Canadian Virtual War Memorial 17
  • Other Canadian records 25
  1. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Wm Humphreys

    Came to Ontario in 1879 aboard the Sardinian, landing at Quebec, bound for Woodstock, 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 Robert Edward Humphreys

    Buried in 1998 at Queen's Park Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta, aged 73.

    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 Mina Humphreys

    Died 1913 in Trenton, Pictou, Nova Scotia.

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

Showing 3 of 105 records for Humphreys in Canada.

Counts: Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. · City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. · City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg. · Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario. · City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. · Contains information provided by the City of Waterloo under licence · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain). 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).

New Zealand23 records

23 records of the Humphreys name in New Zealand
  • Christchurch City cemetery records 14
  • Marlborough District cemetery records 8
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 1
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Clara Dorothea Humphreys

    Died 1970, aged 85; buried at Waimairi 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 Kenneth Augustus Humphreys

    Died 1963, aged 71; buried at Omaka Cemetery, Marlborough.

    Marlborough District Council (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A page of the Livre d’or of the French war dead, Paris
    Example: roll of the war dead
    War record J. S. Humphreys

    New Zealand Mounted Rifles. 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 23 records for Humphreys in New Zealand.

Counts: Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0) · Marlborough District Council (CC BY 4.0) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0); Livre d’or of the war dead, Paris, Ministère des pensions, Archives nationales (CC0).

France5 records

5 records of the Humphreys 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 Muriel Ann Humphreys

    Born 1918 in the United Kingdom; died 2001 in Suresnes (Hauts-de-Seine).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)
  2. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Eliane Ruby Humphreys

    Born 1920 in Great Britain; died 1998 in Calais (Pas-de-Calais).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)

Showing 2 of 5 records for Humphreys in France.

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).

Netherlands2 records

2 records of the Humphreys name in the Netherlands
  • Dutch civil registers (births, marriages, deaths) 1
  • Dutch church registers before 1811 1
  1. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Robert Vernon Humphreys

    Married in 1946 in Soest.

    Open Archives, Het Utrechts Archief (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Elizabetha Maria Humphreys

    Married in 1732 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).

Other spellings of this name

The same name, spelled another way.

Spellings that H. B. Guppy (England and Wales, 1890) or the Registrar-General for Ireland (births index of 1890) counted as one name together with Humphreys.

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Humphreys.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Humphreys 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.

See the Humphreys volume
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