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Fortune Family History

Fortune Surname Meaning

English: from Anglo-Norman French fortin, a diminutive of Old French fort ‘strong’. Compare Fortin. English: from the Latin personal name Fortunus or a variant of Forton.

Scottish: habitational name from East and West Fortune in Athelstaneford, East Lothian, probably so named from Old English fōr ‘hog, pig’ + tūn ‘settlement, enclosure’. John de Fortun was servant to the abbot of Kelso c. 1200.

This name also became established in Ireland from an early date and was Gaelicized there as Ó Foirtchcheirn. Altered form of French Fortin.

French (Fortuné): from the personal name Fortuné, a vernacular form of the Late Latin personal name Fortunatus meaning ‘prosperous, happy’. Americanized form of Italian, Slovenian, and Croatian Fortuna or Norwegian and Slovenian Fortun.

Americanized form of Dutch Fortuin: from fortuin ‘luck, fortune’, a topographic or habitational name referring to a house named with this word.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022

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Where is the Fortune family from?

You can see how Fortune families moved over time by selecting different census years. The Fortune family name was found in the USA, the UK, Canada, and Scotland between 1840 and 1920. The most Fortune families were found in USA in 1880. In 1891 there were 314 Fortune families living in Yorkshire. This was about 29% of all the recorded Fortune's in United Kingdom. Yorkshire had the highest population of Fortune families in 1891.

Use census records and voter lists to see where families with the Fortune surname lived. Within census records, you can often find information like name of household members, ages, birthplaces, residences, and occupations.

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What did your Fortune ancestors do for a living?

View Census Data for Fortune | Data not to scale

Top Male Occupations In 1939

General Labourer
18%
Builders Labourer
7%
Bricklayer
5%
Incapacitated
5%

Top Female Occupations In 1939

Unpaid Domestic Duties
74%
Housewife
4%
Domestic Servant
3%
Household Duties
2%

What Fortune family records will you find?

Census Records

There are 74,000 census records available for the last name Fortune. Like a window into their day-to-day life, Fortune census records can tell you where and how your ancestors worked, their level of education, veteran status, and more.

Search UK census records for Fortune

Passenger Lists

There are 7,000 immigration records available for the last name Fortune. Passenger lists are your ticket to knowing when your ancestors arrived in the UK, and how they made the journey - from the ship name to ports of arrival and departure.

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Draft Cards

There are 13,000 military records available for the last name Fortune. For the veterans among your Fortune ancestors, military collections provide insights into where and when they served, and even physical descriptions.

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What is the average Fortune lifespan?

Between 1943 and 2004, in the United States, Fortune life expectancy was at its lowest point in 1943, and highest in 2002. The average life expectancy for Fortune in 1943 was 22, and 73 in 2004.

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