2000
#3,922
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 8,321
First available Census row
Per 100,000 3.08
Rare Last name
Autry
Derived from the French surname Auterie, indicating a person from Auterie in Aisne, France.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 9,084 Americans carry the last name Autry. That puts it at #4,329 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.65 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 37,732 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Autry surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
9.1K
1 in 37,732
Census rank
#4,329
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
7.9K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 7,922 bearers of the surname Autry in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.65 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 4329th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Autry, the largest self-reported group is White at 69.6%. The next largest groups are Black (20.7%) and Two or More Races (4.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Autry
The surname Autry has its origins in France, specifically in the region of Normandy, where it first emerged in the Middle Ages. The name is derived from the Old French word 'autre,' meaning 'other' or 'foreign,' and was likely given to someone who came from another region or country.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Autry can be found in the Domesday Book, a detailed survey of landowners and property carried out in England in 1086 by order of William the Conqueror. This suggests that individuals bearing the surname may have migrated from Normandy to England during the Norman Conquest in 1066.
In the 13th century, records show the name Autry being used in the town of Autry-Issy in the Saône-et-Loire region of Burgundy, France. This place name likely influenced the spelling and pronunciation of the surname in later years.
Notable individuals with the surname Autry include Jacques Autry, a French composer who lived in the early 17th century and whose works were published in Paris in 1628. Another prominent figure was Jean-Baptiste Autry, a French military officer and engineer who served during the reign of Louis XIV in the late 17th century.
In the United States, one of the earliest recorded Autrys was François Autry, a Huguenot who fled religious persecution in France and settled in Virginia in the late 17th century. His descendants played a significant role in the early settlement and development of the American South.
Perhaps the most famous individual with the surname Autry was Gene Autry (1907-1998), the legendary American singer, actor, and businessman who became known as the "Singing Cowboy" of the Wild West. He starred in numerous Western films and television shows, recorded numerous hit songs, and owned a successful baseball team, the Los Angeles Angels.
Other notable Autrys include Grover Cleveland Autry (1899-1982), an American businessman and entrepreneur who founded the Autry National Center of the American West museum in Los Angeles, and Claude Autry (1915-2004), a French writer and philosopher known for his works on existentialism.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Autry
Among Census respondents with the surname Autry, the largest self-reported group is White at 69.6%. The next largest groups are Black (20.7%) and Two or More Races (4.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Autry bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Autry surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White69.6% · 5,510
- Black or African American20.7% · 1,643
- Two or more races4.4% · 349
- Hispanic or Latino4.0% · 319
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 55
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 46
Timeline
Historical Census data for Autry
Autry appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#4,081
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 8,704
+383 bearers (+4.6%)
Per 100,000 2.95
Rank movement Down 159 places
2020
#4,329
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,922
-782 bearers (-9.0%)
Per 100,000 2.65
Rank movement Down 248 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #3,922 | 8,321 | 3.08 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #4,081 | 8,704 | 2.95 | +383 bearers (+4.6%) | Down 159 places |
| 2020 | #4,329 | 7,922 | 2.65 | -782 bearers (-9.0%) | Down 248 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Autry surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #4,081 | #4,329 | -6.1% |
| Count | 8,704 | 7,922 | -9.0% |
| Per 100K | 2.95 | 2.65 | -10.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Autry bearers went from 8,704 to 7,922 (-9.0% change). The surname moved down 248 positions in the national ranking, going from #4,081 to #4,329.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Autry
FAQ
Autry surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Autry?
Name Census estimates that about 9,084 living Americans carry the surname Autry. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 37,732 residents.
How common is Autry?
Autry ranks #4,329 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.65 per 100,000 residents, which is about 3 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 7,922 people with the surname Autry. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (9,084), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2.65 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.65 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 3 of them to have the surname Autry.
Has Autry become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Autry went from 8,704 recorded bearers to 7,922. That is a decrease of 782 (-9.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #4,081 to #4,329.
What does the Census say about the background of Autry?
Among Census respondents with the surname Autry, the largest self-reported group is White at 69.6%. The next largest groups are Black (20.7%) and Two or More Races (4.4%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Autry in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.6% (5,510 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Autry appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (69.6%), Black (20.7%), Two or More Races (4.4%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Autry (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Autry mean?
Derived from the French surname Auterie, indicating a person from Auterie in Aisne, France. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Autry (2.65 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the last name Autry?
Find out how common the surname Autry is on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.