2000
#15,627
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,717
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.64
Rare Last name
Barthelemy
A French surname derived from the Greek name Bartholomaios, meaning "son of Talmai" or "son of the furrow."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,994 Americans carry the last name Barthelemy. That puts it at #11,526 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.87 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 114,480 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Barthelemy 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 114,480
Census rank
#11,526
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.6K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,611 bearers of the surname Barthelemy in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.87 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 11526th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Barthelemy, the largest self-reported group is Black at 60.6%. The next largest groups are White (28.8%) and Hispanic (5.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Barthelemy
The surname Barthelemy is of French origin, derived from the given name Barthélemy, which is the French form of the ancient Greek name Bartholomaios. This name is a combination of the Aramaic 'bar' meaning son and the Hebrew 'Talmai' meaning furrow or furrowed land.
The earliest known record of the surname Barthelemy dates back to the 13th century in the region of Normandy, France. It is believed to have been initially adopted as a descriptive surname, referring to someone who lived or worked on furrowed or plowed land.
During the Middle Ages, the name Barthelemy appeared in various medieval records and manuscripts, including the famous Domesday Book of 1086, which recorded landowners in England after the Norman Conquest. This suggests that individuals bearing the name may have accompanied William the Conqueror to England during that time.
One of the earliest known individuals with the surname Barthelemy was Jean Barthelemy (c. 1300-1368), a French nobleman and military commander who served under King John II during the Hundred Years' War. Another notable figure was Barthélemy d'Eyck (1420-1492), a Flemish painter and one of the earliest known practitioners of oil painting.
In the 16th century, François Barthelemy (1535-1596) was a French theologian and author, known for his works on the history of the Church. Later, in the 18th century, Jean-Jacques Barthelemy (1716-1795) was a renowned French writer, archaeologist, and numismatist, best known for his work 'Voyage du Jeune Anacharsis en Grèce' (Travels of the Young Anacharsis in Greece).
Another prominent figure bearing the surname was Auguste Marseille Barthelemy (1796-1867), a French poet, playwright, and novelist who was a leading figure in the Romantic movement. In the field of music, Félix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809-1847), a German composer and conductor, is often referred to as Bartholdy, which is a variant spelling of Barthelemy.
Throughout history, the surname Barthelemy has been documented in various spellings, including Barthelemi, Bartelmey, Bartholomew, and Bartholomé, reflecting the regional variations and linguistic influences over time.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Barthelemy
Among Census respondents with the surname Barthelemy, the largest self-reported group is Black at 60.6%. The next largest groups are White (28.8%) and Hispanic (5.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Barthelemy 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 Barthelemy surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American60.6% · 1,583
- White28.8% · 751
- Hispanic or Latino5.5% · 143
- Two or more races3.3% · 87
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 31
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 16
Timeline
Historical Census data for Barthelemy
Barthelemy 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
#13,316
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,291
+574 bearers (+33.4%)
Per 100,000 0.78
Rank movement Up 2,311 places
2020
#11,526
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,611
+320 bearers (+14.0%)
Per 100,000 0.87
Rank movement Up 1,790 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #15,627 | 1,717 | 0.64 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #13,316 | 2,291 | 0.78 | +574 bearers (+33.4%) | Up 2,311 places |
| 2020 | #11,526 | 2,611 | 0.87 | +320 bearers (+14.0%) | Up 1,790 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 Barthelemy 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 | #13,316 | #11,526 | 13.4% |
| Count | 2,291 | 2,611 | 14.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.78 | 0.87 | 12.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Barthelemy bearers went from 2,291 to 2,611 (+14.0% change). The surname moved up 1,790 positions in the national ranking, going from #13,316 to #11,526.
FAQ
Barthelemy surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Barthelemy?
Name Census estimates that about 2,994 living Americans carry the surname Barthelemy. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 114,480 residents.
How common is Barthelemy?
Barthelemy ranks #11,526 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.87 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 2,611 people with the surname Barthelemy. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,994), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.87 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.87 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 Barthelemy.
Has Barthelemy become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Barthelemy went from 2,291 recorded bearers to 2,611. That is an increase of 320 (+14.0%). In the national ranking it rose from #13,316 to #11,526.
What does the Census say about the background of Barthelemy?
Among Census respondents with the surname Barthelemy, the largest self-reported group is Black at 60.6%. The next largest groups are White (28.8%) and Hispanic (5.5%). 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?
Black is the largest self-reported group for the surname Barthelemy in the 2020 Census, accounting for 60.6% (1,583 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Barthelemy appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Black (60.6%), White (28.8%), Hispanic (5.5%). 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 Barthelemy (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 Barthelemy mean?
A French surname derived from the Greek name Bartholomaios, meaning "son of Talmai" or "son of the furrow." 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 Barthelemy (0.87 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 Barthelemy?
Want to know how many people have the surname Barthelemy? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.