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

Balfour, 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 Balfour surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Balfour in America

Balfour is the 13435th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Balfour surname appeared 2,268 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 Balfour.

We can also compare 2010 data for Balfour 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 Balfour

The surname Balfour is of Scottish origin, derived from the lands of Balfour in the parish of Markinch, Fife. The name is believed to have originated from the Gaelic words 'Bal', meaning a village or town, and 'pur', meaning land or soil, thus translating to "farm town".

The earliest recorded instance of the Balfour name dates back to the 12th century, when David de Balfour was mentioned in a charter from King William the Lion of Scotland in 1195. The name is also found in the Ragman Rolls of 1296, which recorded those who swore fealty to King Edward I of England.

In the 14th century, Sir John Balfour was a prominent figure who served as the Clerk Register of Scotland under King David II. He was responsible for the preservation of many important Scottish records and charters during his tenure.

The Balfours of Burleigh, near Kinross, were a notable Scottish family that played a significant role in Scottish history. In the 16th century, Sir James Balfour (1525-1583) was a Scottish judge and Lord President of the Court of Session.

Another notable figure was Robert Balfour (1550-1625), a Scottish philosopher and mathematician who was a professor at the University of Guienne in France. He made important contributions to the development of calculus and mathematical notation.

In the 17th century, Sir William Balfour (1619-1694) was a Scottish politician and writer who served as a member of the Scottish Parliament and was a staunch supporter of the Covenanters during the religious conflicts of the time.

Arthur Balfour (1848-1930) was a prominent British statesman and philosopher who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1905. He is remembered for his role in the Balfour Declaration of 1917, which supported the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine.

The surname Balfour has also been associated with various place names, such as Balfour Castle in Fife, Balfour Manor in Oxfordshire, and Balfour in British Columbia, Canada.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Balfour

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

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 Balfour 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 Balfour 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 Balfour was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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