2000
#6,288
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,991
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.85
Rare Last name
Alexis
A Greek surname derived from the given name Alexis, meaning "helper" or "defender."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 8,462 Americans carry the last name Alexis. That puts it at #4,659 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.47 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 40,505 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Alexis 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 Alexis with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
8.5K
1 in 40,505
Census rank
#4,659
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.5
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
7.4K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 7,379 bearers of the surname Alexis in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.47 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 4659th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Alexis, the largest self-reported group is Black at 78.8%. The next largest groups are White (10.8%) and Hispanic (5.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Alexis
The surname Alexis is of Greek origin, deriving from the Greek name Alexios, which means "defender" or "helper." The name can be traced back to ancient Greece, where it was commonly used as a personal name.
Alexis is believed to have originated from the Greek island of Crete, where it was a popular name among the aristocracy and ruling classes during the Byzantine Empire. The name later spread to other parts of Greece and the broader Mediterranean region.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Alexis can be found in the works of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, who mentions an Alexis from the city of Samos in the 5th century BC.
In the Middle Ages, the name Alexis appeared in various historical records and manuscripts across Europe. For instance, it is mentioned in the Domesday Book, a survey commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086, which recorded the landholders in England at the time.
Notable individuals who bore the surname Alexis include:
1. Alexis of Byzantium (5th century BC), a Greek sculptor and architect who designed the famous Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
2. Alexis Mikhailovich (1629-1676), a Russian Tsar and the second Romanov ruler of Russia.
3. Alexis Sanchez (born 1988), a Chilean professional footballer who has played for clubs like Arsenal, Manchester United, and Barcelona.
4. Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859), a French political thinker and historian best known for his works "Democracy in America" and "The Old Regime and the Revolution."
5. Alexis Carrel (1873-1944), a French surgeon and biologist who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1912 for his work on vascular suturing and transplantation.
The surname Alexis has also been associated with various place names and older spellings. For example, the name Alexishafen (Alexis Harbor) was a former German colonial settlement in present-day Namibia, while Alexisbad was a spa town in Germany.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Alexis
Among Census respondents with the surname Alexis, the largest self-reported group is Black at 78.8%. The next largest groups are White (10.8%) and Hispanic (5.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Alexis 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 Alexis surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American78.8% · 5,814
- White10.8% · 796
- Hispanic or Latino5.3% · 389
- Two or more races4.0% · 293
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 58
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 29
Timeline
Historical Census data for Alexis
Alexis 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
#5,070
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,915
+1,924 bearers (+38.5%)
Per 100,000 2.34
Rank movement Up 1,218 places
2020
#4,659
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,379
+464 bearers (+6.7%)
Per 100,000 2.47
Rank movement Up 411 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #6,288 | 4,991 | 1.85 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #5,070 | 6,915 | 2.34 | +1,924 bearers (+38.5%) | Up 1,218 places |
| 2020 | #4,659 | 7,379 | 2.47 | +464 bearers (+6.7%) | Up 411 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 Alexis 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 | #5,070 | #4,659 | 8.1% |
| Count | 6,915 | 7,379 | 6.7% |
| Per 100K | 2.34 | 2.47 | 5.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Alexis bearers went from 6,915 to 7,379 (+6.7% change). The surname moved up 411 positions in the national ranking, going from #5,070 to #4,659.
FAQ
Alexis surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Alexis?
Name Census estimates that about 8,462 living Americans carry the surname Alexis. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 40,505 residents.
How common is Alexis?
Alexis ranks #4,659 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.47 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 7,379 people with the surname Alexis. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (8,462), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2.47 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.47 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Alexis.
Has Alexis become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Alexis went from 6,915 recorded bearers to 7,379. That is an increase of 464 (+6.7%). In the national ranking it rose from #5,070 to #4,659.
What does the Census say about the background of Alexis?
Among Census respondents with the surname Alexis, the largest self-reported group is Black at 78.8%. The next largest groups are White (10.8%) and Hispanic (5.3%). 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?
Black is the largest self-reported group for the surname Alexis in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.8% (5,814 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Alexis appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Black (78.8%), White (10.8%), Hispanic (5.3%). 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 Alexis (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 Alexis mean?
A Greek surname derived from the given name Alexis, meaning "helper" or "defender." 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 Alexis (2.47 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 have the surname Alexis?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.