Find out how popular the last name Backman is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Backman.

Backman, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Backman surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Backman in America

Backman is the 10034th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Backman surname appeared 3,210 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Backman.

We can also compare 2010 data for Backman to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Backman

The surname Backman originated in Sweden during the late 17th century. It was derived from a combination of the Swedish words "bak" meaning "back" and "man" meaning "man". This occupational name likely referred to a baker or someone who worked in a bakery.

One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Backman can be found in Swedish church records from the late 1600s. The name was particularly common in the regions of Värmland and Dalarna, where many bakeries and mills were located.

In 1696, a man named Nils Backman was born in the village of Åmål, Värmland. He later became a prominent baker and is mentioned in several historical documents from the early 18th century.

The name Backman also appeared in some Swedish military records from the late 17th and early 18th centuries. For instance, a soldier named Erik Backman is listed as serving in the Västgöta-Dals Regiment during the Great Northern War (1700-1721).

During the 19th century, the Backman name began to spread beyond Sweden as many individuals emigrated to other parts of the world. One notable example is Carl Backman, a Swedish-American entrepreneur born in 1854, who founded a successful lumber company in Seattle, Washington.

Another prominent individual with the Backman surname was Johan Backman (1835-1909), a Swedish inventor and industrialist. He is credited with developing several important innovations in the field of papermaking and played a significant role in the growth of Sweden's pulp and paper industry.

As the Backman name continued to spread across Europe and North America, it also gave rise to various spelling variations such as Bakman, Bachman, and Bachmann. Despite these variations, the name's origins can be traced back to the baking trade in Sweden during the late 17th century.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Backman

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Backman.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Backman was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Backman has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Backman was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Backman, please contact us.

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