Find out how popular the last name Bamber is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Bamber.
An English surname originally referring to a person from the town of Bamber in Lancashire.
Bamber, 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 Bamber surname is from the 2010 census data.
Bamber is the 34618th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.
The Bamber surname appeared 653 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Bamber.
We can also compare 2010 data for Bamber 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.
2010 | 2000 | Change (%) | |
---|---|---|---|
Rank | 34618 | 31774 | 8.57% |
Count | 653 | 687 | -5.07% |
Proportion per 100k | 0.22 | 0.25 | -12.77% |
The surname Bamber originates from the northern English counties of Lancashire and Yorkshire, with records dating back to the 13th century. It is believed to be a locational name derived from the Old English words "bean" meaning bean and "byr" meaning farm, referring to a bean farm or a place where beans were grown.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Subsidy Rolls of Yorkshire in 1297, where a William de Bamber is mentioned. In the 14th century, the surname appeared in various forms, such as Bamber, Baumforth, and Bawnforth, reflecting the regional dialects and spelling variations of the time.
The Bamber name is also closely associated with the town of Poulton-le-Fylde in Lancashire, where a notable Bamber family resided in the 16th century. In the Visitation of Lancashire in 1613, the Bamber family of Poulton is recorded with their coat of arms, indicating their status as landed gentry.
Historical figures with the Bamber surname include Sir James Bamber (1643-1718), a wealthy merchant and Member of Parliament for Preston in the late 17th century. Another notable individual was Edward Bamber (1784-1857), a prominent architect who designed several churches and public buildings in Lancashire during the early 19th century.
In the literary world, Jasper Bamfer (1914-1986) was an English writer and poet known for his works on nature and rural life. His collection of poems, "The Tall Country," published in 1948, received critical acclaim.
During the English Civil War, Colonel John Bamber (c. 1620-1667) was a Royalist officer who fought for King Charles I and was later executed for his involvement in the Bolton Massacre of 1644.
The Bamber surname has also been associated with various place names in Lancashire, such as Bamber Bridge, a town near Preston, and Bamber Carr, a hamlet in the Ribble Valley. These place names further reinforce the locational origins of the surname.
We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Bamber.
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:
For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Bamber was:
Race/Ethnicity | Percentage | Total Occurrences |
---|---|---|
Non-Hispanic White Only | 93.42% | 610 |
Non-Hispanic Black Only | 1.07% | 7 |
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only | (S)% | (S) |
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native | (S)% | (S) |
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races | 1.07% | 7 |
Hispanic Origin | 3.22% | 21 |
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 Bamber has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.
2010 | 2000 | Change (%) | |
---|---|---|---|
White | 93.42% | 94.76% | -1.42% |
Black | 1.07% | (S)% | (S)% |
Asian and Pacific Islander | (S)% | 0.87% | (S)% |
American Indian and Alaskan Native | (S)% | (S)% | (S)% |
Two or More Races | 1.07% | 1.60% | -39.70% |
Hispanic | 3.22% | 1.75% | 59.15% |
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 Bamber was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.
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<a href="http://namecensus.com/last-names/bamber-surname-popularity/">Bamber last name popularity, history, and meaning</a>
"Bamber last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on June 4, 2025. http://namecensus.com/last-names/bamber-surname-popularity/.
"Bamber last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/bamber-surname-popularity/. Accessed 4 June, 2025
Bamber last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/bamber-surname-popularity/.
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