The Wrenn surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 5,160 people carried this name — #6,566 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 57,100 people counted. That is up 1% from 5,133 in 2000.

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Where the name comes from

The origin of the Wrenn surname

As an English and Welsh surname

An early record he cites: Alice Wrenn, Cambridgeshire, 1273 — Hundred Rolls.

His entry covers Wren and Wrenn.

From Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (London: Henry Frowde, 1901), p. 830 · public domain.

Among the farmers of England and Wales, 1880s

Wrenn was found among the farmers of Sussex: 18 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. His list gives one count for the spellings Wren and Wrenn.

Where it concentrates, on the map

Per 10,000 farmers, by county

Sussex 18

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 print

Wrenn in American newspapers,
1898–1913.

Newspaper page from New Hampshire Farmer And Weekly Union carrying the name Wrenn
New Hampshire Farmer And Weekly Union 1913-07-02
Newspaper page from New Hampshire Farmer And Weekly Union carrying the name Wrenn
New Hampshire Farmer And Weekly Union 1913-02-12
Newspaper page from Foster's Daily Democrat carrying the name Wrenn
Foster's Daily Democrat 1898-06-06

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

In print

Wrenn in Australian newspapers,
1860s–1960s.

638 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Wrenn. The most, 260, 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 Western Australia, at 1.7 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 255
Queensland 124
Western Australia 108
Victoria 88
South Australia 38
Tasmania 16
ACT (Canberra) 2

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

Who carried it

People named Wrenn,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Robert Wrenn
    Robert Wrenn 1873–1925 · tennis player
  • George Wrenn 1865–1948 · tennis player
  • Heaton Wrenn 1900–1978 · rugby union player
  • John Harry Wyckoff Wrenn 1947–2006 · paleobotanist

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 Wrenn,
in the records of 5 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 States474 records

474 records of the Wrenn name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 229
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 81
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 74
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 44
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 21
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 14
  • Irish Famine arrivals at New York, 1846–1851 5
  • Riverside Cemetery, Asheville (North Carolina) 4
  • U.S. service members who died in the Vietnam War 2
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Herbert F. Wrenn

    Born 1909 in Massachusetts. Enlisted 1942 at Boston; filling station attendant. U.S. Army Air Forces veteran of World War II; died 1993, buried at Massachusetts National Cemetery, Massachusetts.

    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 Fred Melvin Wrenn

    Born 1947; from Charlotte, North Carolina. U.S. Army, supplyman; died in an accident 1968 in Gia Dinh, South Vietnam.

    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 Bridget Wrenn

    Arrived at New York in 1864 aboard the John Bright from Liverpool, aged 25; servant. From Ireland.

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

Showing 3 of 474 records for Wrenn 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) · City of Asheville (public domain, PDDL) · 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).

Australia30 records

30 records of the Wrenn name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 14
  • Queensland State Archives indexes 12
  • Tasmanian Names Index 4
  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 Nancy Wrenn

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the John Calvin, sailing from London in 1848. Native of Clare. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1849.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Johana Wrenn

    Arrived in Victoria in 1860 aboard the White Star, aged 25; Irish.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Wm Fredk Wrenn

    Arrived in Queensland in 1886 aboard the Cloncurry, aged 24.

    Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 30 records for Wrenn in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (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); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

New Zealand5 records

5 records of the Wrenn name in New Zealand Christchurch City cemetery records
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Thomas Avery Wrenn

    Died 1925, aged 72; 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 Alfred James Terry Wrenn

    Died 1967, aged 83; buried at Ruru Lawn, Christchurch, Canterbury.

    Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Caroline Wrenn

    Died 1921, aged 72; buried at Bromley Cemetery, Christchurch, Canterbury.

    Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 5 records for Wrenn in New Zealand.

Counts: Christchurch City 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).

Canada2 records

2 records of the Wrenn name in Canada Canadian Virtual War Memorial
  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 Alexander Wrenn

    Died in service in 1916.

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

    Died in service in 1918.

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

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

United Kingdom1 record

1 record of the Wrenn 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 W. Wrenn

    Lance Corporal, Bedfordshire Regiment. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1917.

    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).

Other spellings of this name

The same name, spelled another way.

Spellings that H. B. Guppy (England and Wales, 1890) or the Registrar-General for Ireland (births index of 1890) counted as one name together with Wrenn.

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Wrenn.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Wrenn 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 Wrenn volume
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