2000
#4,168
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,879
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.92
Rare Last name
Atchison
Derived from a place name meaning "town of Acca's son" in Old English.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 8,761 Americans carry the last name Atchison. That puts it at #4,519 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.56 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 39,123 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Atchison 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 Atchison with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
8.8K
1 in 39,123
Census rank
#4,519
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
7.6K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 7,640 bearers of the surname Atchison in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.56 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 4519th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Atchison, the largest self-reported group is White at 78.7%. The next largest groups are Black (11.4%) and Two or More Races (4.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Atchison
The surname Atchison has its origins in Scotland, where it first emerged in the 16th century. It is derived from the Scottish place name Atchison, which comes from the Gaelic words "ath" meaning "ford" and "caissean" meaning "small stream." The name likely refers to someone who lived near a ford over a small stream.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Parish registers of Largs, Ayrshire, where a John Atchison is mentioned in 1593. Another early reference is in the Commissariot Record of Glasgow in 1613, which mentions a Robert Atchison.
The Atchison surname is also found in the Hearth Tax Rolls of Renfrewshire in 1695, indicating its presence in that region during the late 17th century. Some variations of the spelling include Atcheson, Atchason, and Atchinson.
Notable individuals with the surname Atchison throughout history include David Rice Atchison (1807-1886), a United States Senator from Missouri who served as President pro tempore of the United States Senate for 24 hours in 1849, making him the Acting President of the United States for the shortest term in history.
Another prominent figure was Reuben Atchison (1786-1858), an American politician and lawyer who served as a United States Senator from Missouri from 1843 to 1855. He was also a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1833 to 1837.
In the 18th century, George Atchison (1768-1847) was a British naval officer and explorer who served in the Royal Navy and later became a merchant seaman. He is known for his exploration of the Pacific Northwest and his encounter with the indigenous Nuu-chah-nulth people on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
William Atchison (1821-1905) was a Scottish-born Australian politician who served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of New South Wales from 1869 to 1880. He was also a successful businessman and landowner in the Goulburn region.
Lastly, John Atchison (1734-1804) was a Scottish-born American planter and politician who served as a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses and later the Virginia General Assembly. He was a prominent figure in the early years of the United States and owned significant landholdings in Virginia.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Atchison
Among Census respondents with the surname Atchison, the largest self-reported group is White at 78.7%. The next largest groups are Black (11.4%) and Two or More Races (4.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Atchison 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 Atchison surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.7% · 6,011
- Black or African American11.4% · 871
- Two or more races4.7% · 361
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 284
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 64
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 49
Timeline
Historical Census data for Atchison
Atchison 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
#4,338
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 8,185
+306 bearers (+3.9%)
Per 100,000 2.77
Rank movement Down 170 places
2020
#4,519
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,640
-545 bearers (-6.7%)
Per 100,000 2.56
Rank movement Down 181 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #4,168 | 7,879 | 2.92 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #4,338 | 8,185 | 2.77 | +306 bearers (+3.9%) | Down 170 places |
| 2020 | #4,519 | 7,640 | 2.56 | -545 bearers (-6.7%) | Down 181 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 Atchison 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 | #4,338 | #4,519 | -4.2% |
| Count | 8,185 | 7,640 | -6.7% |
| Per 100K | 2.77 | 2.56 | -7.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Atchison bearers went from 8,185 to 7,640 (-6.7% change). The surname moved down 181 positions in the national ranking, going from #4,338 to #4,519.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Atchison
FAQ
Atchison surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Atchison?
Name Census estimates that about 8,761 living Americans carry the surname Atchison. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 39,123 residents.
How common is Atchison?
Atchison ranks #4,519 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.56 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 7,640 people with the surname Atchison. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (8,761), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2.56 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.56 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 Atchison.
Has Atchison become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Atchison went from 8,185 recorded bearers to 7,640. That is a decrease of 545 (-6.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #4,338 to #4,519.
What does the Census say about the background of Atchison?
Among Census respondents with the surname Atchison, the largest self-reported group is White at 78.7%. The next largest groups are Black (11.4%) and Two or More Races (4.7%). 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 Atchison in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.7% (6,011 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Atchison appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (78.7%), Black (11.4%), Two or More Races (4.7%). 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 Atchison (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 Atchison mean?
Derived from a place name meaning "town of Acca's son" in Old English. 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 Atchison (2.56 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 common is the surname Atchison?
If you just want to know how many people have the last name Atchison, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.