Surname Origin
The Black family surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, according to the House of Names. They report the name referring to someone with black hair or clothing, or even someone who worked in occupations that left them covered in black soot, such as chimney sweeping. The Ancestry website solely attributes the Black surname with a dark-haired person and reports the surname as being Scottish and English. Click to learn more about the family history.
Initially, I always check the Ancestry.com site to see what information they have. Over five million historical documents leaves a lot of fact checking in store for me to ensure I have the correct facts attached to the correct folks. It seems with a million birth, marriage, and death certificates, there’s many Black ancestors in the Ancestry database to research on.
Population
According to the House of Names, Black was found in Lincolnshire initially where they held a family seat in very ancient times. This may have been before the Norman Conquest and arrival of Duke William in Hastings in 1066 A.D. The Black family reportedly moved northward and became well established in Scotland by 1175 A.D. The website gives a lot of great information on the origins of this surname and their activity before migrating over to America.
Black families were spread throughout the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Scotland between the years 1840 and 1920. There were 420 Black families living in Pennsylvania in 1840 which accounted for around 19% of all recorded Black’s in North America at the time.
The year 1880 has the biggest Black family population in 1880 with 4,485 families living in Pennsylvania which accounted for about 12% of all recorded Black’s in America at the time.
In 1920 there were 2,253 Black families living in Pennsylvania which was about 10% of all the recorded Black’s in the United States. Pennsylvania had the highest population of Black families between 1840 and 1920.
Occupations
In the late 1800s, Black families held a small variety of different jobs between the United States, Canada, and England.
The most common Black occupation in the United States in 1880 was Farmer, accounting for 38% of Black’s with Farming being another 4%. Farmer, Laborer and Keeping House were the top 3 reported jobs worked by Black families at the time.
The most common Black occupation in Canada in 1880 was Farmer, accounting for 36% of Black’s with Students being another 3%. Farmer, Labourer and Schooling were the top 3 reported jobs worked by Black families at the time.
The most common Black occupation in the United Kingdom in 1880 was Farmer, accounting for 4% of Black’s with Annuit being another 2%. Farmer, Coal Miner and Labourer were the top 3 reported jobs worked by Black families at the time.
Life Expectancy
Early on, life expectancy for Black’s was just below that of the General Population. But they’ve steadily increased their life expectancy and just recently surpassed that of the General Population.
Black life expectancy was at its lowest point in 1944, and highest in 2004 in the United States. The average life expectancy for Black’s in 1940 was 33, and 75 in 2004.
Family Members I’ve Found So Far
I obviously still have a lot of work to do in order to fill this family out and discover my roots. I will be working on that in the weeks and months ahead.
Have you found any Black’s in your family tree yet? Did they come from Scotland? England? What did they do for work? I have so many questions!
As always, I will come back and update this page as I learn more about the Black family.
Happy Searching!
~Kris
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