2000
#10,173
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,910
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.08
Rare Last name
Balmer
A surname of German origin, referring to someone who lived on a rounded hill or mountain.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,196 Americans carry the last name Balmer. That puts it at #10,920 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.93 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 107,245 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Balmer 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 Balmer with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
3.2K
1 in 107,245
Census rank
#10,920
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.8K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,787 bearers of the surname Balmer in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.93 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 10920th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Balmer, the largest self-reported group is White at 87.7%. The next largest groups are Black (6.7%) and Two or More Races (2.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Balmer
The surname Balmer is of English origin, tracing its roots back to the medieval period in the county of Wiltshire, located in the south-west of England. The name is derived from the Old English words 'beal' meaning 'rounded hill' and 'mere' meaning 'lake or pool', suggesting that the earliest bearers of this name lived near a distinctive rounded hill near a body of water.
The Balmer name is found in several early records, including the Domesday Book of 1086, which mentions a landowner named Walter de Balmere in the county of Wiltshire. This provides evidence that the name was already established in the region by the 11th century.
One of the earliest documented individuals with the surname Balmer was Sir John Balmer, a prominent military commander who fought in the Hundred Years' War against France in the 14th century. He was knighted for his bravery on the battlefield and is mentioned in several historical chronicles from that period.
In the 16th century, the Balmer family held lands in the village of Mere, located in Wiltshire. This village likely played a role in the origin of the surname, as it shares the same root as the 'mere' component of the name.
Another notable figure was Robert Balmer, a successful merchant and philanthropist who lived in London during the 17th century. He was a member of the Worshipful Company of Mercers and used his wealth to support various charitable causes, including the founding of a school for underprivileged children.
In the 18th century, the Reverend James Balmer was a respected Church of England clergyman who served as the Rector of Mere in Wiltshire. He is known for his published sermons and writings on religious subjects.
Moving into the 19th century, Johann Jakob Balmer, a Swiss mathematician and physicist, made significant contributions to the field of spectroscopy. He is best known for discovering the Balmer series, an important mathematical formula that describes the visible spectrum of hydrogen.
Throughout history, the Balmer surname has been found in various spellings, including Balmere, Balmor, and Balmore, reflecting the regional variations in pronunciation and spelling conventions of different time periods.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Balmer
Among Census respondents with the surname Balmer, the largest self-reported group is White at 87.7%. The next largest groups are Black (6.7%) and Two or More Races (2.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Balmer 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 Balmer surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.7% · 2,445
- Black or African American6.7% · 187
- Two or more races2.4% · 66
- Hispanic or Latino2.0% · 57
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 17
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 15
Timeline
Historical Census data for Balmer
Balmer 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
#10,059
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,204
+294 bearers (+10.1%)
Per 100,000 1.09
Rank movement Up 114 places
2020
#10,920
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,787
-417 bearers (-13.0%)
Per 100,000 0.93
Rank movement Down 861 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #10,173 | 2,910 | 1.08 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #10,059 | 3,204 | 1.09 | +294 bearers (+10.1%) | Up 114 places |
| 2020 | #10,920 | 2,787 | 0.93 | -417 bearers (-13.0%) | Down 861 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 Balmer 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 | #10,059 | #10,920 | -8.6% |
| Count | 3,204 | 2,787 | -13.0% |
| Per 100K | 1.09 | 0.93 | -14.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Balmer bearers went from 3,204 to 2,787 (-13.0% change). The surname moved down 861 positions in the national ranking, going from #10,059 to #10,920.
FAQ
Balmer surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Balmer?
Name Census estimates that about 3,196 living Americans carry the surname Balmer. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 107,245 residents.
How common is Balmer?
Balmer ranks #10,920 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.93 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 2,787 people with the surname Balmer. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,196), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.93 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.93 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 Balmer.
Has Balmer become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Balmer went from 3,204 recorded bearers to 2,787. That is a decrease of 417 (-13.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #10,059 to #10,920.
What does the Census say about the background of Balmer?
Among Census respondents with the surname Balmer, the largest self-reported group is White at 87.7%. The next largest groups are Black (6.7%) and Two or More Races (2.4%). 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 Balmer in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.7% (2,445 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Balmer appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (87.7%), Black (6.7%), Two or More Races (2.4%). 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 Balmer (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 Balmer mean?
A surname of German origin, referring to someone who lived on a rounded hill or mountain. 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 Balmer (0.93 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 last name Balmer?
Find out how many Americans have the surname Balmer on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.