Lance surname: U.S. census count, rank and records | FamilyCrests

The Lance surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 13,122 people carried this name — #2,747 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 22,500 people counted. That is up 3% from 12,700 in 2000.

See Lance on the map Look up another surname

Share

Where the name comes from

The origin of the Lance surname

The surname is derived from a medieval given name Lanzo, short form of names beginning with the Germanic element *land; see land.

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

In France’s civil register

France’s register of deaths holds 649 people named Lance.

12 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 56 départements, most often Pas-de-Calais.

Where it concentrates, on the map

Where they were born

Born outside France 12
Pas-de-Calais 120
Paris 74
Isère 47
Jura 43
Calvados 29
Meurthe-et-Moselle 27
Alpes-Maritimes 25
Meuse 23

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

In Argentina’s national register

At least 356 people named Lance 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 Jujuy.

Where it concentrates, on the map

Where they live today

Jujuy 110
Buenos Aires Province 99
Salta 91
City of Buenos Aires 19
Santa Fe 19
Mendoza 18

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

In Switzerland’s population statistics

35 people named Lance live in Switzerland.

They live in 2 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Geneva.

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

Where they live today

Geneva 31
Neuchâtel 4

Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.

In print

Lance in American newspapers,
1882–1902.

Newspaper page from Catoctin Clarion carrying the name Lance
Catoctin Clarion 1882-08-10
Newspaper page from The St. Louis Republic carrying the name Lance
The St. Louis Republic 1902-06-22
Newspaper page from The Abbeville Press And Banner carrying the name Lance
The Abbeville Press And Banner 1890-01-15

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 525,574 pages in all carry the name.

Who carried it

People named Lance,
with a public archive behind them.

  • George Edwin Lance
    George Edwin Lance 1824–1890 · civil servant
  • Edith Marion Lance d. 1905
  • Edward Jarman Lance 1788–1863 · writer
  • Edward Jarman Lance 1788–1863 · writer
  • Adolphe Lance 1813–1874 · architect
  • James Dupré Lance 1829–1897 · politician

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

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Lance.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Lance 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 what a volume holds
Scroll to Top