Youngs
A patronymic surname meaning “Young’s son” or simply “the family of Young.”
The #6,776 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 62,034 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Youngs is an English surname formed from the byname Young, with an added -s that originally showed possession or descent. In effect, it meant “Young’s” or “belonging to Young,” and was understood as a family name derived from an ancestor nicknamed Young. Some 19th-century writers also describe it straightforwardly as a pluralized form of Young.
History
The name appears in historical surname dictionaries as a variant or offshoot of Young, especially in England. It is also noted in English county distributions, with some concentration in East Anglia and scattered families elsewhere. In Scottish records and family histories, Young and related forms are sometimes discussed together, but Youngs itself is treated as an English-style patronymic.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A few older surname writers explicitly glossed Youngs as a “pluralization of Young,” showing how closely it was tied to the base surname rather than to a separate occupation or place name.
From the historical record
“YOUNGMAY [v. Young and May] YOUNGS (Eng.) Young's (Son).: v. Young. YOUNGSBAND idr Younghiisband, q.v. YOUNGSMITH , [v. Young and Smith] YOUNGSON (Eng.) Young's Son : v. Young. YOXALL (Eng.) Bel. to Yoxall (Staffs), 13th cent. Yoxhal(e, lokeshal = (prob.) Geac's”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)