The Sargent surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 27,786 people carried this name — #1,265 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 10,600 people counted. That is up 3% from 27,024 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Sargent surname

A surname originating as an occupation.

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Sargent» (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 explains it as ‘the sergeant’.

An early record he cites: John le Serjaunt, Buckinghamshire, 1273 — Hundred Rolls.

His entry covers Serjeant, Sergeant, Sergent, Sargant, Sargeant, Sargeaunt, Sargent and Seargeant.

From Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (London: Henry Frowde, 1901), p. 678 · public domain.

In Ireland’s birth registers, 1890

Ireland registered 11 births for the Sargent name in 1890.

Most were registered in Leinster. By the Registrar-General’s own method — births multiplied by 44.38 — that is about 500 people bearing the name in Ireland at the time. 4 of them were indexed under other spellings of the name.

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

Where they were born, 1890

Leinster 5
Ulster 5
Munster 1

Registrar-General for Ireland, «Special Report on Surnames in Ireland» (R. E. Matheson, 1894), births index of 1890 — public domain.

In France’s civil register

France’s register of deaths holds 40 people named Sargent.

11 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 7 départements, most often Paris.

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

Where they were born

Born outside France 11
Paris 13
Oise 10
Yonne 2
Bouches-du-Rhône 1
Isère 1
Somme 1
Hauts-de-Seine 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

21 people named Sargent is counted in Sweden.

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

Counted, by country

Sweden (2022) 21

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

Sargent was found among the farmers of 5 counties.

It was most frequent in Northamptonshire: 35 in every 10,000 farmers there — about 1 in 286. 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 Sargeant and Sargent.

Where it concentrates, on the map

Per 10,000 farmers, by county

Northamptonshire 35
Wiltshire 22
Cornwall 14
Staffordshire 14
Suffolk 11

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

253 families named Sargent, or a close spelling, were counted in 1790.

Each family is counted by its head. About 1,463 people lived in those households, 5.8 to a family on average. The table counts it together with 17 other spellings. 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 97
New Hampshire 86
Maine 22
Vermont 16
Pennsylvania 8
Maryland 7
New York 6
North Carolina 6
Connecticut 3
Virginia 1
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. 260 — public domain · names carried by at least 100 white persons in 1790.

In print

Sargent in American newspapers,
1858–1875.

Newspaper page from Meigs County Telegraph carrying the name Sargent
Meigs County Telegraph 1858-08-31
Newspaper page from The Southern Aegis, And Harford County Intelligencer carrying the name Sargent
The Southern Aegis, And Harford County Intelligencer 1863-05-01
Newspaper page from Carson Daily Appeal carrying the name Sargent
Carson Daily Appeal 1875-05-14

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 379,576 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Sargent in Australian newspapers,
1820s–2000s.

30,623 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Sargent. The most, 5,866, date from the 1930s. 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 2.2 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 10,789
South Australia 4,323
Western Australia 4,131
Tasmania 4,080
Queensland 3,684
Victoria 3,292
ACT (Canberra) 187
Northern Territory 71

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

Who carried it

People named Sargent,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Epes Sargent
    Epes Sargent 1690–1762
  • John Sargent
    John Sargent 1714–1791 · politician
  • Mary Croswell Gowen Sargent
    Mary Croswell Gowen Sargent 1730–1771
  • Mary Turner Sargent
    Mary Turner Sargent 1743–1813
  • John Sargent
    John Sargent 1750–1831 · politician

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 220 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Sargent,
in the records of 6 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 States2,220 records

2,220 records of the Sargent name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 942
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 414
  • Other U.S. records 864
  1. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Kenneth Page Sargent

    Born 1947; from Warrington, Florida. U.S. Marine Corps, machinegunner; killed in action 1967 in Quang Nam, South Vietnam. Buried at Barrancas National Cemetery, Florida.

    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 Melvin S. Sargent

    Born 1912 in Oregon. Enlisted 1942 at San Francisco, California; miner. U.S. Army Air Forces veteran of World War II; died 2000, buried at Camellia Memorial Lawn Cemetery, Sacramento, California.

    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 Julia Sargent

    Arrived at New York in 1851 aboard the Western World from Liverpool, aged 26; seamstress. From Armagh, Ireland.

    U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain)

Showing 3 of 2,220 records for Sargent in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · 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). 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).

Australia771 records

771 records of the Sargent name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 313
  • Tasmanian Names Index 178
  • Other Australian records 280
  1. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record Charlotte Sargent

    Died 1880 in Hobart, Tasmania, aged 82. Will registered in Tasmania in 1880.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Mary Amelia Sargent

    Born 1871 in New Norfolk, Tasmania. Married 1890 in New Norfolk, Tasmania, aged 19.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  3. 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 Sargent

    Transported to New South Wales aboard the Vittoria, arriving 1829; ticket of leave 1838. Native of Somersetshire.

    Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY)

Showing 3 of 771 records for Sargent 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) · ACT Government, Transport Canberra and City Services (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain); Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (public domain); Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, with the convicts going on board, etching by Edward William Cooke, 1829, Royal Museums Greenwich (public domain).

Canada200 records

200 records of the Sargent name in Canada
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 129
  • City of Calgary cemetery records 24
  • Other Canadian records 47
  1. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Edith Victoria Sargent

    Died 1995, aged 81; buried at St. Vital Cemetery, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

    City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg.
  2. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Levenia Maxwell Sargent

    Died 1940 in Glenwood, Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.
  3. A Canadian First World War grave register card for a soldier who died of wounds in 1917
    Example: Canadian war grave register, 1917
    War record William Benedict Sargent

    Died in service in 1944.

    Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada.

Showing 3 of 200 records for Sargent 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. · 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. · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · Halifax Regional Municipality. Contains information licenced under the Open Government Licence—Halifax. · 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: Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0); Canadian First World War circumstances-of-death register (scan by Scottgraham87 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0).

United Kingdom49 records

49 records of the Sargent name in the United Kingdom
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 40
  • St James's burial ground, Euston (London), 1789–1853 9
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Anne Sargent

    Buried in 1803 at St James's burial ground, Euston, London, aged 60.

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

    Driver, Royal Field Artillery. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1917.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)
  3. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Mary Sargent

    Buried in 1797 at St James's burial ground, Euston, London, aged 36.

    MOLA and HS2, St James's burial ground data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Showing 3 of 49 records for Sargent in the United Kingdom.

Counts: 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. 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).

France18 records

18 records of the Sargent 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 Sidonie Sargent

    Born 1897 in Chantilly (Oise); died 1973 in Neuilly-sur-Seine (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 Georges Roger Victor Sargent

    Born 1928 in Coye-la-Forêt; died 2001 in Clermont (Oise).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)
  3. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Edward Sargent

    Born 1911 in Gouvieux (Oise); died 1993 in Rambouillet (Yvelines).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)

Showing 3 of 18 records for Sargent 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).

New Zealand10 records

10 records of the Sargent name in New Zealand
  • Christchurch City cemetery records 8
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 2
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Frank Driessen Sargent

    Died 1947, aged 63; buried at Bromley Cemetery, Christchurch, Canterbury.

    Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the Livre d’or of the French war dead, Paris
    Example: roll of the war dead
    War record G. Sargent

    New Zealand Artillery. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1918.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)
  3. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record John William Sargent

    Died 1980, aged 72; buried at Ruru Lawn, Christchurch, Canterbury.

    Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 10 records for Sargent in New Zealand.

Counts: Christchurch City 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).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Sargent.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Sargent 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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