2000
#3,359
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 9,734
First available Census row
Per 100,000 3.61
Uncommon Last name
Alderman
An occupational surname referring to a senior official in local government.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 10,901 Americans carry the last name Alderman. That puts it at #3,641 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 3.18 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 31,442 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Alderman surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Alderman with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
11K
1 in 31,442
Census rank
#3,641
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
3.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
9.5K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 9,506 bearers of the surname Alderman in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 3.18 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 3641st position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Alderman, the largest self-reported group is White at 84.4%. The next largest groups are Black (7.8%) and Two or More Races (4.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Alderman
The surname Alderman is of Anglo-Saxon origin, traced back to the English counties of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. It is derived from the Old English words 'ealdor' meaning elder or chief and 'mann' meaning man, thus referring to a prominent or respected individual in a community.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Alderman can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as 'Aldremannus' in Kent. This suggests the surname was already in use during the Norman Conquest of England in the 11th century.
In the 13th century, the surname was recorded as 'Aldermannus' in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire in 1230. The variant spelling 'Alderman' appeared in the Hundred Rolls of Lincolnshire in 1273, indicating its widespread use across northern England.
One notable early bearer of the name was John Alderman, a member of the Worshipful Company of Brewers in London, who lived around 1450-1520. Another was William Alderman, a prominent merchant and alderman of the City of London, born in 1555.
During the 16th century, the surname Alderman was found in various parts of England, such as Dorset, where Thomas Alderman was recorded in the Parish Registers of Bere Regis in 1563. In the same century, the variant spelling 'Aldaman' appeared in Cambridgeshire in 1584.
In the 17th century, the name gained prominence with individuals like Sir Ralph Alderman (1577-1658), a wealthy London merchant and Lord Mayor of London in 1652. Another notable figure was Captain John Alderman (1632-1703), an English sea captain and pirate hunter who served under Sir Henry Morgan.
Other notable bearers of the surname include Sir Benjamin Alderman (1734-1810), a British naval officer who served in the American Revolutionary War, and Sir Edward Hall Alderson (1787-1857), an English lawyer and Baron of the Exchequer.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Alderman
Among Census respondents with the surname Alderman, the largest self-reported group is White at 84.4%. The next largest groups are Black (7.8%) and Two or More Races (4.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Alderman bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Alderman surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White84.4% · 8,019
- Black or African American7.8% · 744
- Two or more races4.0% · 378
- Hispanic or Latino2.8% · 270
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 64
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 31
Timeline
Historical Census data for Alderman
Alderman appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#3,528
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 10,119
+385 bearers (+4.0%)
Per 100,000 3.43
Rank movement Down 169 places
2020
#3,641
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 9,506
-613 bearers (-6.1%)
Per 100,000 3.18
Rank movement Down 113 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #3,359 | 9,734 | 3.61 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #3,528 | 10,119 | 3.43 | +385 bearers (+4.0%) | Down 169 places |
| 2020 | #3,641 | 9,506 | 3.18 | -613 bearers (-6.1%) | Down 113 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Alderman surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #3,528 | #3,641 | -3.2% |
| Count | 10,119 | 9,506 | -6.1% |
| Per 100K | 3.43 | 3.18 | -7.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Alderman bearers went from 10,119 to 9,506 (-6.1% change). The surname moved down 113 positions in the national ranking, going from #3,528 to #3,641.
FAQ
Alderman surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Alderman?
Name Census estimates that about 10,901 living Americans carry the surname Alderman. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 31,442 residents.
How common is Alderman?
Alderman ranks #3,641 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 3.18 per 100,000 residents, which is about 3 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 9,506 people with the surname Alderman. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (10,901), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 3.18 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 3.18 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 3 of them to have the surname Alderman.
Has Alderman become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Alderman went from 10,119 recorded bearers to 9,506. That is a decrease of 613 (-6.1%). In the national ranking it fell from #3,528 to #3,641.
What does the Census say about the background of Alderman?
Among Census respondents with the surname Alderman, the largest self-reported group is White at 84.4%. The next largest groups are Black (7.8%) and Two or More Races (4.0%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Alderman in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.4% (8,019 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Alderman appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (84.4%), Black (7.8%), Two or More Races (4.0%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Alderman (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Alderman mean?
An occupational surname referring to a senior official in local government. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Alderman (3.18 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people share the surname Alderman?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.