The Ware surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 49,316 people carried this name — #700 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 5,980 people counted. That is up 6% from 46,682 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Ware surname

As an English surname, from the noun weir.

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Ware» (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 weir’ — the first of the origins he gives.

An early record he cites: Ralph de la Ware, Essex, 1273 — Hundred Rolls.

His entry covers Ware, Warr and Warre.

From Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (London: Henry Frowde, 1901), p. 793 · public domain.

In France’s civil register

France’s register of deaths holds 32 people named Ware.

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

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

Where they were born

Born outside France 15
Hérault 4
Somme 2
Paris 2
Isère 2
Rhône 1
Saône-et-Loire 1
Yvelines 1
Deux-Sèvres 1

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

In Switzerland’s population statistics

24 people named Ware live in Switzerland.

They live in 1 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 24

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 the Nordic population registers

96 people named Ware are counted in Finland and Sweden.

Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published. Finland counts its citizens, at home or abroad.

Counted, by country

Finland (2026) 67
Sweden (2022) 29

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) · Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV), Finland, surname statistics, August 2026 — CC BY 4.0.

Among the farmers of England and Wales, 1880s

Ware was found among the farmers of Devon: 9 in every 10,000.

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

Devon 9

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

219 families named Ware, or a close spelling, were counted in 1790.

Each family is counted by its head. About 1,194 people lived in those households, 5.5 to a family on average. The table counts it together with 14 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 64
Pennsylvania 34
South Carolina 21
New Hampshire 19
Maryland 19
Virginia 15
Maine 14
North Carolina 13
New York 9
Vermont 6
Connecticut 4
Rhode Island 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. 267 — public domain · names carried by at least 100 white persons in 1790.

In print

Ware in American newspapers,
1895–1903.

Newspaper page from The Kalispell Bee carrying the name Ware
The Kalispell Bee 1903-05-01
Newspaper page from The Portland Daily Press carrying the name Ware
The Portland Daily Press 1902-05-17
Newspaper page from The Sea Coast Echo carrying the name Ware
The Sea Coast Echo 1895-09-07

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 10,216 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Ware in Australian newspapers,
1810s–2010s.

59,009 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Ware. The most, 8,223, date from the 1900s. Victoria 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 South Australia, at 1.8 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

Victoria 14,533
New South Wales 13,419
South Australia 13,269
Queensland 10,166
Western Australia 3,835
Tasmania 3,225
ACT (Canberra) 393
Northern Territory 48

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

Who carried it

People named Ware,
with a public archive behind them.

  • James Ware
    James Ware 1594–1666 · writer
  • Virginia Ware d. 1922 · actor
  • Robert A. Ware Jr. d. 1992 · illustrator
  • Henry Ware d. 1420 · diplomat
  • Margaret Isabel Baker Wilbraham d. 1968
  • Doris Isabella Ware d. 1971

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 Ware,
in the records of 10 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 States3,269 records

3,269 records of the Ware name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 1,647
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 783
  • Other U.S. records 839
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Clarence A. Ware

    Born 1911 in Tennessee. Enlisted 1943 at Camp Forrest; farm hand from Hamilton County. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1989, buried at Chattanooga National Cemetery, Tennessee.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (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 Ralph M. Ware

    Born 1922 in Colorado. Enlisted 1942 at Denver; office clerk from Denver County. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1982, buried at Fort Logan National Cemetery, Colorado.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  3. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Cecil Y. Ware

    Born 1932; from French Creek, West Virginia. U.S. Army, cannon crewmember; killed in action 1966 in South Vietnam.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain)

Showing 3 of 3,269 records for Ware 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) · 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) · Sacramento County, Historic Burials (CC BY 4.0). 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).

Australia1,863 records

1,863 records of the Ware name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 787
  • Tasmanian Names Index 539
  • Other Australian records 537
  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 George Ware

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Lady Raffles, sailing from Portsmouth in 1840. Native of Buxted, Sussex. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1847. Married 1847 in Clarence, Tasmania, aged 33.

    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 Henry Ware

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Lord Lyndoch, sailing from London in 1836. Native of London, Middlesex. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1845.

    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 William Ware

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Woodford, sailing from London in 1826. Native of Staines, Middlesex. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1835. Married 1836 in Hobart, Tasmania.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 1,863 records for Ware 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) · ACT Government, Transport Canberra and City Services (CC BY 4.0) · City of Ballarat, Avenue of Honour Plaques (CC BY 3.0 AU) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain). 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).

Canada103 records

103 records of the Ware name in Canada
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 51
  • City of Calgary cemetery records 13
  • Other Canadian records 39
  1. 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 Arthur Nelson Ware

    Served in the No. 2 Construction Battalion in the First World War, private; of Calgary, Alberta.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.
  2. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Robert Lewis Ware

    Buried in 1980 at Burnsland Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta, aged 85.

    City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary.
  3. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Winifred Irene Ware

    Buried in 1971 at Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, Nova Scotia, aged 67.

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

Showing 3 of 103 records for Ware 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 Niagara Falls. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Niagara Falls. · 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. · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Canadian First World War circumstances-of-death register (scan by Scottgraham87 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0).

United Kingdom46 records

46 records of the Ware name in the United Kingdom
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 25
  • St James's burial ground, Euston (London), 1789–1853 21
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Elizh Ware

    Buried in 1815 at St James's burial ground, Euston, London, aged 62.

    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 A. Ware

    Lance Corporal, Dorsetshire Regiment. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1919.

    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 William Ware

    Buried in 1828 at St James's burial ground, Euston, London, aged 40.

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

Showing 3 of 46 records for Ware 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).

New Zealand11 records

11 records of the Ware name in New Zealand
  • Christchurch City cemetery records 9
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 1
  • Thames-Coromandel District cemetery records 1
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Sarah Ware

    Died 1933, aged 88; buried at Linwood 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 George Ware

    Buried in 1931 at Shortland Cemetery, Thames-Coromandel District, Waikato, aged 71.

    Thames-Coromandel District Council (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 2 of 11 records for Ware in New Zealand.

Counts: Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · Thames-Coromandel 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).

France8 records

8 records of the Ware 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 Renee Alphonsine Ware

    Born 1901 in Saint-Sulpice; died 1976 in Amiens (Somme).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)
  2. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Rene Numa Georges Ware

    Born 1898 in Paris; died 1974 in Viry-Châtillon (Essonne).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)

Showing 2 of 8 records for Ware 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).

Netherlands8 records

8 records of the Ware name in the Netherlands
  • Dutch church registers before 1811 7
  • Dutch civil registers (births, marriages, deaths) 1
  1. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Jan Ware

    Married in 1620 in Vlissingen; soldier.

    Open Archives, Gemeentearchief Vlissingen (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Ann Waré

    Married in 1787 in Harlingen.

    Open Archives, AlleFriezen (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 2 of 8 records for Ware in the Netherlands.

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).

Finland7 records

7 records of the Ware name in Finland
  • Finland's war dead, 1914–1922 5
  • Finland's war dead, 1939–1945 2
  1. A page of the Livre d’or of the French war dead, Paris
    Example: roll of the war dead
    War record Johan Jakob Wäre

    Born 1880 in Kaarina; stoneworker. Died in 1918 in Lahti, one of the dead of Finland's wars of 1914–1922.

    Kansallisarkisto, via Sotasurmasampo (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 Wilho Päiviö Wäre

    Born 1923 in Espoo; labourer. Died in 1941 during Finland's wars of 1939–1945; buried in Espoo.

    Kansallisarkisto, via WarSampo (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 2 of 7 records for Ware in Finland.

Counts: Kansallisarkisto, via Sotasurmasampo (CC BY 4.0) · Kansallisarkisto, via WarSampo (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Livre d’or of the war dead, Paris, Ministère des pensions, Archives nationales (CC0).

Belgium1 record

1 record of the Ware name in Belgium Belgian civil registers (births, marriages, deaths)
  1. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Birth record Juliana Ware

    Born 1904 in Gent.

    Open Archives, Archief Gent (CC BY 4.0)

Counts: Open Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).

Germany1 record

1 record of the Ware name in Germany Germany's First World War casualty lists, 1914–1919
  1. A page of the German First World War casualty lists, 18 April 1918
    Example: German casualty list, 1918
    Casualty list Friedrich Ware

    From Westheim, Pfalz. Reported wounded in the Bavarian casualty list of 3 December 1914 (Infantry Regiment No. 18).

    Verein für Computergenealogie e.V. (2026). Deutsche Verlustlisten des Ersten Weltkriegs – Datensammlung (Version 1.0), DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18330751 (CC0)

Counts: Verein für Computergenealogie e.V. (2026). Deutsche Verlustlisten des Ersten Weltkriegs – Datensammlung (Version 1.0), DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18330751 (CC0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Deutsche Verlustlisten, Prussian list 1116, 18 April 1918 (scan via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Ware.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Ware 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 Ware volume
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