2000
#11,217
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,591
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.96
Rare Last name
Bartee
An English occupational surname referring to a leather tanner or someone who worked with birch bark.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,024 Americans carry the last name Bartee. That puts it at #11,426 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.88 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 113,345 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Bartee 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
3.0K
1 in 113,345
Census rank
#11,426
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.6K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,637 bearers of the surname Bartee in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.88 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 11426th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Bartee, the largest self-reported group is White at 50.4%. The next largest groups are Black (38.6%) and Two or More Races (5.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Bartee
The surname Bartee has its origins in England, where it first appeared in the late 12th century. It is believed to be derived from the Old English words "bearu" meaning grove or thicket, and "tun" meaning settlement or enclosure. This suggests that the name may have originally referred to someone who lived near a wooded area or grove.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name appears in the Pipe Rolls of Staffordshire in 1199, where a William de Bartun is mentioned. This spelling variation, along with others like de Barton and Bartone, was common in the Middle Ages as surnames were still being standardized.
The Bartee name can be traced to various regions of England, including Staffordshire, Derbyshire, and Yorkshire, where it was associated with several minor landed gentry families. In the 13th century, a Robert de Bartone was recorded as holding lands in Derbyshire, while a John de Barton was documented as a landowner in Yorkshire in the late 14th century.
A notable early bearer of the name was Sir William de Barton, a knight who fought alongside Edward III at the Battle of Crécy during the Hundred Years' War in 1346. He was rewarded for his service with lands in Lincolnshire.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Bartee surname began to appear in parish records and other official documents across England. Some notable individuals from this period include John Barton (c. 1577-1645), an English clergyman and author, and Benjamin Barton (1677-1722), a renowned English naturalist and writer.
In the 18th century, the Bartee name continued to be found throughout England, with individuals like Joseph Barton (1708-1787), a notable English optician and inventor of the Barton compound microscope, and John Barton (1789-1852), an English lawyer and politician who served as Solicitor General for England and Wales.
As the centuries progressed, the Bartee surname spread beyond England to other parts of the British Isles and eventually to the Americas and other parts of the world through emigration and exploration. While the name has undergone various spelling variations over time, its origins can be traced back to the early English settlers who first bore the name.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bartee
Among Census respondents with the surname Bartee, the largest self-reported group is White at 50.4%. The next largest groups are Black (38.6%) and Two or More Races (5.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Bartee 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 Bartee surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White50.4% · 1,330
- Black or African American38.6% · 1,018
- Two or more races5.8% · 153
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 98
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 22
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 16
Timeline
Historical Census data for Bartee
Bartee 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
#10,396
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,099
+508 bearers (+19.6%)
Per 100,000 1.05
Rank movement Up 821 places
2020
#11,426
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,637
-462 bearers (-14.9%)
Per 100,000 0.88
Rank movement Down 1,030 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #11,217 | 2,591 | 0.96 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #10,396 | 3,099 | 1.05 | +508 bearers (+19.6%) | Up 821 places |
| 2020 | #11,426 | 2,637 | 0.88 | -462 bearers (-14.9%) | Down 1,030 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 Bartee 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 | #10,396 | #11,426 | -9.9% |
| Count | 3,099 | 2,637 | -14.9% |
| Per 100K | 1.05 | 0.88 | -16.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Bartee bearers went from 3,099 to 2,637 (-14.9% change). The surname moved down 1,030 positions in the national ranking, going from #10,396 to #11,426.
FAQ
Bartee surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Bartee?
Name Census estimates that about 3,024 living Americans carry the surname Bartee. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 113,345 residents.
How common is Bartee?
Bartee ranks #11,426 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.88 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 2,637 people with the surname Bartee. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,024), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.88 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.88 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 Bartee.
Has Bartee become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Bartee went from 3,099 recorded bearers to 2,637. That is a decrease of 462 (-14.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #10,396 to #11,426.
What does the Census say about the background of Bartee?
Among Census respondents with the surname Bartee, the largest self-reported group is White at 50.4%. The next largest groups are Black (38.6%) and Two or More Races (5.8%). 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 Bartee in the 2020 Census, accounting for 50.4% (1,330 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Bartee appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (50.4%), Black (38.6%), Two or More Races (5.8%). 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 Bartee (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 Bartee mean?
An English occupational surname referring to a leather tanner or someone who worked with birch bark. 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 Bartee (0.88 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 are called Bartee?
You can see how many people have the last name Bartee on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.