2000
#23,480
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,009
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.37
Rare Last name
Balan
A Romanian surname derived from a Romanian word meaning "brown" or "chestnut-colored".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,296 Americans carry the last name Balan. That puts it at #14,377 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.67 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 149,283 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Balan 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 Balan with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
2.3K
1 in 149,283
Census rank
#14,377
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.0K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,002 bearers of the surname Balan in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.67 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 14377th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Balan, the largest self-reported group is White at 38.5%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (27.1%) and Hispanic (17.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Balan
The surname BALAN is believed to have originated in Romania during the medieval period. It is derived from the Romanian word "balan," which means "blond-haired" or "fair-haired." This suggests that the name may have been initially given as a nickname to someone with light-colored hair.
One of the earliest known references to the name BALAN can be found in the Codex Sturdzanus, a 15th-century collection of Romanian laws and documents. This manuscript mentions a certain "Ioanne Balan," who was a landowner in the region of Wallachia during that time.
In the 16th century, the name BALAN appeared in various records of the Principality of Moldavia, which was a historical Romanian state. One notable individual was Gheorghe Balan, a military commander who fought against the Ottoman Empire in the late 1500s.
The BALAN surname can also be traced back to the town of Băleni, located in the present-day county of Galați, Romania. It is possible that some families adopted the name BALAN as a reference to their place of origin or residence in this town.
In the 18th century, a prominent figure with the name BALAN was Petru Balan, a Romanian writer and philosopher who lived from 1730 to 1808. His works contributed significantly to the development of Romanian literature and intellectual thought during the Enlightenment period.
Another notable individual with the surname BALAN was Ion Balan, a Romanian politician and diplomat who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the early 20th century (1906-1909). He was born in 1856 and played a crucial role in shaping Romania's foreign policy during that era.
One of the most famous bearers of the BALAN name was the Romanian novelist and playwright Ion Luca Caragiale (1852-1912), whose mother's maiden name was BALAN. Caragiale is widely regarded as one of the most important figures in Romanian literature and is celebrated for his satirical works that exposed the social and political issues of his time.
In the field of sports, the name BALAN is associated with Gheorghe Balan, a Romanian footballer who played as a forward for various clubs in the 1960s and 1970s. He was a member of the Romanian national team and participated in the 1970 FIFA World Cup.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Balan
Among Census respondents with the surname Balan, the largest self-reported group is White at 38.5%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (27.1%) and Hispanic (17.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Balan 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 Balan surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White38.5% · 770
- Asian and Pacific Islander27.1% · 542
- Hispanic or Latino17.3% · 347
- Black or African American13.7% · 274
- Two or more races3.4% · 68
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.0% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Balan
Balan 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
#18,218
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,527
+518 bearers (+51.3%)
Per 100,000 0.52
Rank movement Up 5,262 places
2020
#14,377
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,002
+475 bearers (+31.1%)
Per 100,000 0.67
Rank movement Up 3,841 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #23,480 | 1,009 | 0.37 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #18,218 | 1,527 | 0.52 | +518 bearers (+51.3%) | Up 5,262 places |
| 2020 | #14,377 | 2,002 | 0.67 | +475 bearers (+31.1%) | Up 3,841 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 Balan 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 | #18,218 | #14,377 | 21.1% |
| Count | 1,527 | 2,002 | 31.1% |
| Per 100K | 0.52 | 0.67 | 28.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Balan bearers went from 1,527 to 2,002 (+31.1% change). The surname moved up 3,841 positions in the national ranking, going from #18,218 to #14,377.
FAQ
Balan surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Balan?
Name Census estimates that about 2,296 living Americans carry the surname Balan. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 149,283 residents.
How common is Balan?
Balan ranks #14,377 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.67 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,002 people with the surname Balan. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,296), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.67 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.67 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Balan.
Has Balan become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Balan went from 1,527 recorded bearers to 2,002. That is an increase of 475 (+31.1%). In the national ranking it rose from #18,218 to #14,377.
What does the Census say about the background of Balan?
Among Census respondents with the surname Balan, the largest self-reported group is White at 38.5%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (27.1%) and Hispanic (17.3%). 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?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Balan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 38.5% (770 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Balan appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (38.5%), Asian/Pacific Islander (27.1%), Hispanic (17.3%). 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 Balan (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 Balan mean?
A Romanian surname derived from a Romanian word meaning "brown" or "chestnut-colored". 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 Balan (0.67 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 Balan?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.