Durward
A masculine English name derived from the Middle English word for door keeper.
Name Census estimates that about 682 living Americans carry the first name Durward. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Durward today is around 74 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Durward births was 1916 (118 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Durward. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Durward is about 74 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Durwards were born before 1962.
People living today
682
~ 1 in 502,572 Americans
Peak year
1916
118 babies that year
Average age
74
years old
1991 SSA rank
#8,570
Tracked since 1884
Census
Durward in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 738 people with the first name Durward, which placed it at #15,552 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#15,552
National first-name rank
People counted
738
738 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
88.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Durward
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Durward is White at 88.5%. The next largest groups are Black (7.3%) and Two or More Races (1.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Durward 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 name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Durward at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.5% · 653
- Black or African American7.3% · 54
- Two or more races1.6% · 12
- Hispanic or Latino1.4% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 9
Popularity
Durward: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Durward from the 1880s through to the 1990s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 793 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Durward by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Durward during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Durwards live
The SSA's state-level files cover 20 states and territories. Texas, Oklahoma, Illinois recorded the most babies named Durward, while Wisconsin, Michigan, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 36 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Durward
The given name Durward has its origins in the Old English language, derived from the words "duru" meaning door and "weard" meaning guard or keeper. It was originally an occupational surname used to refer to a doorkeeper or gatekeeper, particularly in medieval times.
During the Middle Ages, the name Durward was associated with individuals who held the position of door-warden or porter, responsible for guarding the entrances of castles, monasteries, or other important buildings. This occupation carried a level of significance, as doorkeepers played a crucial role in maintaining security and controlling access.
The name can be traced back to the 12th century, with early recorded instances found in various historical documents from England and Scotland. One notable bearer of the name was Alan Durward, a Scottish nobleman who lived in the late 12th and early 13th centuries. He served as the Justiciar of Scotland and played a prominent role in Scottish politics during the reign of King William the Lion.
Another historical figure with the name Durward was Sir Ralph Durward, who lived in the late 13th century and was a member of the English nobility. He held the position of Warden of the Cinque Ports, which were important maritime towns in southern England responsible for providing ships and men for the king's service.
In the 14th century, Sir Thomas Durward was a Scottish knight who fought alongside Robert the Bruce during the Scottish Wars of Independence against England. He was captured at the Battle of Neville's Cross in 1346 but later released.
Moving into the 16th century, William Durward was an English courtier who served as a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber to King Henry VIII. He played a role in the dissolution of the monasteries and held significant influence during the English Reformation.
In the 18th century, James Durward was a Scottish scholar and antiquarian who made notable contributions to the study of Scottish history and literature. He authored several works, including "Remarks on the Antiquities of Rome and its Environs," published in 1757.
While the name Durward has fallen out of common usage in modern times, its historical significance and connections to medieval occupations and notable figures throughout the centuries provide insight into its rich linguistic and cultural heritage.
People
Durward + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Durward as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with D
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Durward: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Durward?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 682 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Durward going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 502,572 US residents.
Is Durward a common name?
We classify Durward as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,873 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Durward most popular?
The single biggest year for Durward was 1916, when 118 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Durward is about 74 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Durward in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 738 people with the name Durward, or 0.24 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,552 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Durward in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Durward?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Durward appears almost entirely male. Of the 737 people counted with this name, 99.3% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Durward?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Durward is White at 88.5%. The next largest groups are Black (7.3%) and Two or More Races (1.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Durward most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Durward in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.5% (653 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Durward in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Durward a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Durward in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Durward still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Durward in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Durward can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Durward?
See how many people share the name Durward on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.