Child Last Name: Meaning and Heraldic Roots

Looking for a Child coat of arms? Arms were granted to families, not to surnames, and our research shows which heraldic tradition fits yours.

What Child means

Seen on a birth certificate or a ship's manifest, Child is usually a form of Childs. Its meaning, shared with Childs, is “Young man, youth”.

Child drops the “s” of Childs, a shortening that clerks often made. The same family of names includes Childe. Child ranked 6,483 in the 2010 US Census, with 5,237 people answering to the name. It sits among the 10,000 most common last names in the country.

Want more than a summary? See the Child family name pack.