The Thrasher surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 12,836 people carried this name — #2,807 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 23,000 people counted. That is up 2% from 12,535 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Thrasher surname

As an English and Welsh surname

Bardsley classes it as an occupational name: ‘the thresher’.

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

His entry covers Thresher and Thrasher.

From Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (London: Henry Frowde, 1901), p. 747 · public domain.

In the first U.S. census, 1790

49 families named Thrasher, or a close spelling, were counted in 1790.

Each family is counted by its head. About 257 people lived in those households, 5.2 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 15
Connecticut 7
North Carolina 7
Maine 5
New Hampshire 4
Maryland 4
New York 3
Virginia 2
Pennsylvania 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. 265 — public domain · names carried by at least 100 white persons in 1790.

In print

Thrasher in American newspapers,
1852–1915.

Newspaper page from Evening Star carrying the name Thrasher
Evening Star 1915-03-31
Newspaper page from New-york Daily Tribune carrying the name Thrasher
New-york Daily Tribune 1856-05-03
Newspaper page from Weekly National Intelligencer carrying the name Thrasher
Weekly National Intelligencer 1852-01-03

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain.

In print

Thrasher in Australian newspapers,
1840s–1950s.

239 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Thrasher. The most, 50, 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 Western Australia, at 2.2 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 71
Victoria 51
Western Australia 40
Tasmania 25
Queensland 23
South Australia 23
Northern Territory 1

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

Who carried it

People named Thrasher,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Pearl Thrasher
    Pearl Thrasher 1918–1972 · politician
  • John E. Thrasher
    John E. Thrasher 1943–2025 · politician
  • Ivan Thrasher 1914–2011 · politician
  • Richard Thrasher 1922–1993 · politician
  • Ed Thrasher 1932–2006 · photographer
  • James W. Thrasher 1936–2019 · psychiatrist

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 9 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Thrasher,
in the records of 4 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 States689 records

689 records of the Thrasher name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 455
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 155
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 37
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 30
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 7
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 2
  • U.S. service members who died in the Vietnam War 2
  • U.S. service members who died in the Korean War 1
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Charles A. Thrasher

    Born 1908 in Pennsylvania. Enlisted 1942 at New Cumberland; miner from Fayette County. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1988, buried at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery, Pennsylvania.

    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 Billy L. Thrasher

    Born 1931; from Etowah County, Alabama. U.S. Army, light weapons infantryman; killed in action 1951 in South Korea.

    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 Nellie Thrasher

    Arrived at Boston in 1885 aboard the Cephalonia from Liverpool and Queenstown, aged 11. From England; bound for Massachusetts.

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

Showing 3 of 689 records for Thrasher in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · 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, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain). 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).

Canada22 records

22 records of the Thrasher name in Canada
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 7
  • Canadian Virtual War Memorial 5
  • City of Winnipeg cemetery records 4
  • Halifax municipal cemeteries 2
  • City of Calgary cemetery records 1
  • Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver 1
  • City of Waterloo (Ontario) cemetery records 1
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 1
  1. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Forbes Thrasher

    Buried in 1971 at Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, Nova Scotia, aged 73.

    Halifax Regional Municipality. Contains information licenced under the Open Government Licence—Halifax.
  2. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Walter Augustus Thrasher

    Died 1951 in Halifax, 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 Allan Thrasher

    Died in service in 1917.

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

Showing 3 of 22 records for Thrasher 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 Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg. · Halifax Regional Municipality. Contains information licenced under the Open Government Licence—Halifax. · 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. · 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: 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).

Australia8 records

8 records of the Thrasher name in Australia
  • Tasmanian Names Index 5
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 3
  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 William Thrasher

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Candahar, sailing from Spithead in 1842. Native of Outwell, Norfolk.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Alice Thrasher

    Died 1880 in Launceston, Tasmania, aged 68.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record William Thrasher

    Married 1880 in Launceston, Tasmania, aged 58.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 8 records for Thrasher in Australia.

Counts: Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0). 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); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0); Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (public domain).

United Kingdom1 record

1 record of the Thrasher name in the United Kingdom War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead
  1. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record C. J. Thrasher

    Rifle Brigade. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1918.

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

Counts: National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: C. & E. Morton Ltd roll of honour, 1914–1919, photo by Adrian S Pye via Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Thrasher.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Thrasher 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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