2000
#1,488
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 21,963
First available Census row
Per 100,000 8.14
Uncommon Last name
Beaver
An occupational surname referring to a person who hunted beavers or worked with beaver pelts.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 23,187 Americans carry the last name Beaver. That puts it at #1,732 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 6.76 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 14,782 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Beaver 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 Beaver with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
23K
1 in 14,782
Census rank
#1,732
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
6.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
20K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 20,220 bearers of the surname Beaver in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 6.76 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 1732nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Beaver, the largest self-reported group is White at 84.0%. The next largest groups are Black (4.9%) and Two or More Races (4.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Beaver
The surname BEAVER is of English origin, deriving from the Middle English word "bever," which referred to the semi-aquatic rodent of the same name. The name likely originated as an occupational surname, given to someone whose trade or occupation involved working with beavers or beaver pelts.
The earliest recorded instances of the surname date back to the late 12th century, with references found in the Pipe Rolls of Lincolnshire from 1195, where a William Bevere is mentioned. During this time, the name appeared with various spellings, such as Bever, Bevere, and Beavre.
In the 13th century, the surname BEAVER can be found in the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire from 1273, where a Richard le Bevere is listed. This record suggests that the surname may have been derived from a place name, possibly a location associated with beavers or beaver habitats.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the surname BEAVER was Sir John Beaver (c. 1548-1628), an English politician and landowner who served as a Member of Parliament for Middlesex in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.
In the 17th century, the surname BEAVER appeared in the records of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, with a John Beaver listed as a freeman in 1632. This suggests that individuals bearing the surname had migrated to the American colonies during the early colonial period.
Another prominent figure was Captain Philemon Beaver (1660-1749), an English naval officer and explorer who commanded several voyages to the West Indies and the Americas in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
In the 18th century, the BEAVER surname gained recognition through the achievements of Philip Beaver (1766-1813), a British engineer and inventor who is credited with developing the first practical method for rendering animal bones into a viable fertilizer.
During the 19th century, the surname was associated with several notable individuals, including Reverend Samuel Ricker Beaver (1825-1897), an American Congregationalist minister and author, and James Addams Beaver (1837-1914), a Union Army officer during the American Civil War who later served as the 20th Governor of Pennsylvania.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Beaver
Among Census respondents with the surname Beaver, the largest self-reported group is White at 84.0%. The next largest groups are Black (4.9%) and Two or More Races (4.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Beaver 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 Beaver surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White84.0% · 16,982
- Black or African American4.9% · 982
- Two or more races4.6% · 939
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.1% · 626
- Hispanic or Latino2.8% · 571
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 120
Timeline
Historical Census data for Beaver
Beaver 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
#1,665
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 21,640
-323 bearers (-1.5%)
Per 100,000 7.34
Rank movement Down 177 places
2020
#1,732
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 20,220
-1,420 bearers (-6.6%)
Per 100,000 6.76
Rank movement Down 67 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #1,488 | 21,963 | 8.14 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #1,665 | 21,640 | 7.34 | -323 bearers (-1.5%) | Down 177 places |
| 2020 | #1,732 | 20,220 | 6.76 | -1,420 bearers (-6.6%) | Down 67 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 Beaver 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 | #1,665 | #1,732 | -4.0% |
| Count | 21,640 | 20,220 | -6.6% |
| Per 100K | 7.34 | 6.76 | -7.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Beaver bearers went from 21,640 to 20,220 (-6.6% change). The surname moved down 67 positions in the national ranking, going from #1,665 to #1,732.
FAQ
Beaver surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Beaver?
Name Census estimates that about 23,187 living Americans carry the surname Beaver. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 14,782 residents.
How common is Beaver?
Beaver ranks #1,732 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 6.76 per 100,000 residents, which is about 7 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 20,220 people with the surname Beaver. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (23,187), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 6.76 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 6.76 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 7 of them to have the surname Beaver.
Has Beaver become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Beaver went from 21,640 recorded bearers to 20,220. That is a decrease of 1,420 (-6.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #1,665 to #1,732.
What does the Census say about the background of Beaver?
Among Census respondents with the surname Beaver, the largest self-reported group is White at 84.0%. The next largest groups are Black (4.9%) and Two or More Races (4.6%). 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 Beaver in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.0% (16,982 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Beaver appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (84.0%), Black (4.9%), Two or More Races (4.6%). 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 Beaver (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 Beaver mean?
An occupational surname referring to a person who hunted beavers or worked with beaver pelts. 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 Beaver (6.76 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 Beaver?
See how many people have the surname Beaver on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.