The Townsend surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 69,360 people carried this name — #483 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 4,250 people counted. That is up 4% from 66,853 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Townsend surname

From town + -s- + end. From Middle English toun (“hamlet, village”) + ende (“end”), referring to a dweller at the outskirts of a village.

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Townsend» (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 local name, from where the family lived: ‘at the townend’.

His entry covers Townsend, Townshend and Townend.

From Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (London: Henry Frowde, 1901), p. 761 · public domain.

In Ireland’s birth registers, 1890

Ireland registered 11 births for the Townsend 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. 2 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 7
Ulster 4

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

In Switzerland’s population statistics

41 people named Townsend live in Switzerland.

They live in 7 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Vaud.

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

Where they live today

Vaud 11
Zurich 9
Geneva 8
Bern 4
Aargau 3
Basel-Landschaft 3
Schwyz 3

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 Argentina’s national register

At least 31 people named Townsend 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 Buenos Aires Province.

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

Where they live today

Buenos Aires Province 31

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 23 people named Townsend.

Most of them — 16 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 5 départements, most often Meurthe-et-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 16
Meurthe-et-Moselle 3
Alpes-Maritimes 1
Pas-de-Calais 1
Seine-Maritime 1
Val-de-Marne 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

37 people named Townsend is counted in Sweden.

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

Counted, by country

Sweden (2022) 37

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

Townsend was found among the farmers of 6 counties.

It was most frequent in Oxfordshire: 65 in every 10,000 farmers there — about 1 in 154. 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

Oxfordshire 65
Warwickshire 42
Buckinghamshire 30
Gloucestershire 17
Shropshire 12
Derbyshire 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 Scotland’s registers today

Townsend was recorded 28 times in Scotland’s registers of births, marriages and deaths in 2025.

That made it the 872nd most common name in those registers, shared with others on the same count. In 1975, the first year of the series, the count was 15. 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

322 families named Townsend, or a close spelling, were counted in 1790.

Each family is counted by its head. About 1,916 people lived in those households, 6 to a family on average. The census counted these spellings together: Townsend, Tounsand, Tounsend, Tounshend, Towndsend, Townsand, Townsen, Townshand, Townshend, Townsin, Townson. 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

New York 105
Massachusetts 49
Maryland 43
Pennsylvania 27
Connecticut 24
South Carolina 14
Maine 13
New Hampshire 11
Rhode Island 11
North Carolina 11
Vermont 8
Virginia 6

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

Townsend in American newspapers,
1904–1921.

Newspaper page from The Montgomery Advertiser carrying the name Townsend
The Montgomery Advertiser 1921-08-02
Newspaper page from The Frontier carrying the name Townsend
The Frontier 1904-08-11
Newspaper page from The Frontier carrying the name Townsend
The Frontier 1910-10-13

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 701,109 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Townsend in Australian newspapers,
1820s–2000s.

98,476 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Townsend. The most, 14,276, 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 South Australia, at 3.0 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

South Australia 37,358
New South Wales 25,659
Victoria 14,297
Queensland 8,695
Western Australia 7,281
Tasmania 4,218
ACT (Canberra) 765
Northern Territory 41

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

Who carried it

People named Townsend,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Theophila Townsend d. 1692 · writer
  • Margaret Townsend d. 1912 · princess
  • Thomas J. Townsend d. 1862 · politician
  • Leonard Townsend d. 1971 · journalist
  • Joseph Cuthbert Townsend d. 1849 · naval officer
  • Thomas Townsend d. 1848 · naval officer

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

In the public record

People named Townsend,
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 States6,209 records

6,209 records of the Townsend name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 2,193
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 1,487
  • Other U.S. records 2,529
  1. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record John A. Townsend

    Born 1930; from Manchester, New Hampshire. U.S. Army, telephone installer-repairman; died in an accident 1968 in South Vietnam. Buried at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, Texas.

    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 Arthur Townsend

    Born 1899 in Georgia. Enlisted 1941 at Fort Jackson Columbia, South Carolina; serviceman. U.S. Army veteran of World War I and World War II; died 1960, buried at Greenlawn 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 Annie Townsend

    Arrived at New York in 1892 aboard the Adriatic from Liverpool and Queenstown, aged 29; servant. From London, England; bound for Massachusetts.

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

Showing 3 of 6,209 records for Townsend 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) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain) · 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).

Australia2,647 records

2,647 records of the Townsend name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 1,113
  • Tasmanian Names Index 792
  • Other Australian records 742
  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 Townsend

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Sir Robert Peel, sailing from London in 1844. Native of Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1852. Married 1852 in Launceston, Tasmania, aged 25.

    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 Robert Townsend

    Died 1923 in Public Hospital, Hobart, Tasmania. Will registered in Tasmania in 1923.

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

    Born 1851 in Spring Bay, Tasmania. Died 1869 in Sorell, Tasmania, aged 18.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 2,647 records for Townsend 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: 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); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).

Canada925 records

925 records of the Townsend name in Canada
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 796
  • Canadian Virtual War Memorial 36
  • Other Canadian records 93
  1. The first page of an emigration file from Gündlingen, Baden, 1883
    Example: German emigration file, 1883
    Emigration record Cathern Townsend

    Left New York in 1783 aboard the Commerce, bound for Spithead, aged 17.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.
  2. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Thos Townsend

    Came to Ontario in 1872 aboard the Prussian, landing at Quebec, bound for Galt, Ontario; English.

    Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario.
  3. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Joseph Howe Townsend

    Buried in 1916 at Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, Nova Scotia, aged 71.

    Halifax Regional Municipality. Contains information licenced under the Open Government Licence—Halifax.

Showing 3 of 925 records for Townsend 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 Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. · Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario. · 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 Niagara Falls. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Niagara Falls. · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · Contains information provided by the City of Waterloo under licence. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Emigration file, Gündlingen, 1883, Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg, Staatsarchiv Freiburg B 694/1 Nr. 1389 (CC BY 4.0); 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).

United Kingdom153 records

153 records of the Townsend name in the United Kingdom
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 108
  • St James's burial ground, Euston (London), 1789–1853 27
  • Other British records 18
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Margaret Townsend

    Died 1964, aged 64; buried at Dunblane Cemetery, Stirling, Scotland.

    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 Alice Townsend

    Will proved in 1941; of Swansea.

    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 H. Townsend

    Lincolnshire 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 153 records for Townsend 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. · Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. · National Library of Wales, Wills Index Cards (CC0). 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).

Netherlands83 records

83 records of the Townsend name in the Netherlands
  • Dutch population registers 46
  • Dutch civil registers (births, marriages, deaths) 35
  • Dutch church registers before 1811 2
  1. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Just Townsend

    Died 1945 in Brandenburg, Germany; born 1910 in Apeldoorn; farm labourer.

    Open Archives, Gelders Archief (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Marianne Angela Edmunde Townsend

    Died 1957 in Utrecht, aged 63.

    Open Archives, Het Utrechts Archief (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A page of the 1910 United States census, Milwaukee
    Example: U.S. census, 1910
    Population register Henny John Townsend

    In the population register of Nijmegen; baker, born 1847 in Padang.

    Open Archives, Regionaal Archief Nijmegen (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 83 records for Townsend in the Netherlands.

Counts: Open Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0); U.S. census of 1910, Milwaukee (public domain).

New Zealand42 records

42 records of the Townsend name in New Zealand
  • Christchurch City cemetery records 35
  • Thames-Coromandel District cemetery records 5
  • Marlborough District cemetery records 2
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Mary Townsend

    Died 1919, aged 95; buried at Bromley 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 Martha Townsend

    Buried in 1930 at Shortland Cemetery, Thames-Coromandel District, Waikato, aged 83.

    Thames-Coromandel District Council (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Eliza Maria Townsend

    Died 1949, aged 85; buried at Omaka Cemetery, Marlborough.

    Marlborough District Council (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 42 records for Townsend in New Zealand.

Counts: Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0) · Thames-Coromandel District Council (CC BY 4.0) · Marlborough District 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).

France4 records

4 records of the Townsend 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 Georgette Elise Townsend

    Born 1899 in Luxembourg; died 1997 in Coulommiers (Seine-et-Marne).

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

    Born 1909 in Ivry-sur-Seine (Val-de-Marne); died 1995 in Paris.

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)

Showing 2 of 4 records for Townsend 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).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Townsend.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Townsend 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 Townsend volume
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