2000
#141,788
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 108
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Balkcum
A surname derived from a place name, possibly referring to someone from Balcombe, England.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 131 Americans carry the last name Balkcum. That puts it at #146,495 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,616,445 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Balkcum 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.
Bearers in the US
131
1 in 2,616,445
Census rank
#146,495
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
114
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 114 bearers of the surname Balkcum in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 146495th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Balkcum, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.4%) and Two or More Races (2.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Balkcum
The surname Balkcum has its origins in the English county of Lancashire, deriving from the Old English words "balc" meaning ridge or hill, and "cumb" meaning a valley or hollow. This suggests the name referred to someone who lived near a ridged valley or hollow in the landscape.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name dates back to the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as "Balchecumbe" referring to a place name in Lancashire. Other early spellings include "Balkhcombe" in 1196 and "Balkecumbe" in 1212 in the Pipe Rolls of Lancashire.
Notable historical figures with the Balkcum surname include John Balkcum (1546-1621), an English merchant and landowner in Bristol who served as Sheriff of Bristol in 1592. There is also record of a William Balkcum (1612-1678), a farmer and church warden in the village of Burnley, Lancashire.
In the 17th century, the Balkcum name appears in parish records of the village of Hapton, Lancashire, with the birth of Thomas Balkcum in 1643. Later, in 1712, a Richard Balkcum is recorded as a landowner in the nearby village of Padiham.
Moving into the 18th century, there are records of a Mary Balkcum (1723-1805) from Accrington, Lancashire, who married a local weaver named James Haworth in 1745. Their descendants went on to populate the Balkcum name in the surrounding areas.
As the Industrial Revolution took hold in the 19th century, many Balkcums migrated from rural Lancashire to the growing industrial towns and cities. One notable figure was James Balkcum (1811-1887), a factory overseer in the cotton mills of Manchester who became a local community leader.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Balkcum
Among Census respondents with the surname Balkcum, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.4%) and Two or More Races (2.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Balkcum 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 Balkcum surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.1% · 105
- Hispanic or Latino4.4% · 5
- Two or more races2.6% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Balkcum
Balkcum 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
#131,379
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 129
+21 bearers (+19.4%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 10,409 places
2020
#146,495
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 114
-15 bearers (-11.6%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 15,116 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #141,788 | 108 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #131,379 | 129 | 0.04 | +21 bearers (+19.4%) | Up 10,409 places |
| 2020 | #146,495 | 114 | 0.04 | -15 bearers (-11.6%) | Down 15,116 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 Balkcum 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 | #131,379 | #146,495 | -11.5% |
| Count | 129 | 114 | -11.6% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -4.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Balkcum bearers went from 129 to 114 (-11.6% change). The surname moved down 15,116 positions in the national ranking, going from #131,379 to #146,495.
FAQ
Balkcum surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Balkcum?
Name Census estimates that about 131 living Americans carry the surname Balkcum. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,616,445 residents.
How common is Balkcum?
Balkcum ranks #146,495 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 114 people with the surname Balkcum. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (131), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Balkcum.
Has Balkcum become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Balkcum went from 129 recorded bearers to 114. That is a decrease of 15 (-11.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #131,379 to #146,495.
What does the Census say about the background of Balkcum?
Among Census respondents with the surname Balkcum, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.4%) and Two or More Races (2.6%). 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 Balkcum in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.1% (105 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Balkcum appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.1%), Hispanic (4.4%), Two or More Races (2.6%). 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 Balkcum (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 Balkcum mean?
A surname derived from a place name, possibly referring to someone from Balcombe, England. 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 Balkcum (0.04 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 Balkcum?
You can see how many people are called Balkcum on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.