2000
#131,366
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 119
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Bircheat
A locational surname referring to someone living near birch trees or from a place called Bircheat.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 135 Americans carry the last name Bircheat. That puts it at #143,511 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,538,921 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Bircheat 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
135
1 in 2,538,921
Census rank
#143,511
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
118
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 118 bearers of the surname Bircheat in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 143511th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Bircheat, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Bircheat
The surname BIRCHEAT originates from the English county of Yorkshire, dating back to the 13th century. It is derived from the Old English words "byrce" meaning birch tree, and "hæt" meaning hat or cap, suggesting the name was initially used to describe someone who wore a hat made from birch bark or lived near a prominent birch tree.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the 1379 Yorkshire Poll Tax returns, where a Robert Byrchehatt is listed as a resident of Doncaster. The spelling variations during this period include Birchehat, Byrchehate, and Burchehatt.
In the 16th century, the surname appears in several parish records across Yorkshire, such as the baptism of John Burcheat in Rotherham in 1567 and the marriage of Alice Bircheat to William Smythe in Leeds in 1593.
Notable individuals with the BIRCHEAT surname include Richard Bircheat (1612-1679), a prominent landowner in Barnsley, whose estate was documented in the Hearth Tax records of 1672. Another early bearer of the name was Elizabeth Bircheat (1637-1701), who was accused of witchcraft during the infamous Yorkshire Witch Trials of 1669.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the BIRCHEAT family spread across northern England, with several members serving as clergymen and local officials. Reverend Thomas Bircheat (1685-1754) was the vicar of St. Mary's Church in York, while his son, John Bircheat (1712-1788), held the position of Mayor of Ripon in 1765.
In more recent times, the name has been associated with notable figures such as Sir William Bircheat (1842-1917), a British industrialist and philanthropist who founded the Bircheat Textile Mills in Leeds, and Emily Bircheat (1876-1958), a pioneering female physician and suffragette from Yorkshire.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bircheat
Among Census respondents with the surname Bircheat, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Bircheat 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 Bircheat surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.4% · 109
- Hispanic or Latino5.1% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Bircheat
Bircheat 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
#126,765
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 135
+16 bearers (+13.4%)
Per 100,000 0.05
Rank movement Up 4,601 places
2020
#143,511
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 118
-17 bearers (-12.6%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 16,746 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #131,366 | 119 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #126,765 | 135 | 0.05 | +16 bearers (+13.4%) | Up 4,601 places |
| 2020 | #143,511 | 118 | 0.04 | -17 bearers (-12.6%) | Down 16,746 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 Bircheat 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 | #126,765 | #143,511 | -13.2% |
| Count | 135 | 118 | -12.6% |
| Per 100K | 0.05 | 0.04 | -21.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Bircheat bearers went from 135 to 118 (-12.6% change). The surname moved down 16,746 positions in the national ranking, going from #126,765 to #143,511.
FAQ
Bircheat surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Bircheat?
Name Census estimates that about 135 living Americans carry the surname Bircheat. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,538,921 residents.
How common is Bircheat?
Bircheat ranks #143,511 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 118 people with the surname Bircheat. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (135), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Bircheat.
Has Bircheat become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Bircheat went from 135 recorded bearers to 118. That is a decrease of 17 (-12.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #126,765 to #143,511.
What does the Census say about the background of Bircheat?
Among Census respondents with the surname Bircheat, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.7%). 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 Bircheat in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.4% (109 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Bircheat appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.4%), Hispanic (5.1%), Asian/Pacific Islander (1.7%). 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 Bircheat (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 Bircheat mean?
A locational surname referring to someone living near birch trees or from a place called Bircheat. 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 Bircheat (0.04 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 share the surname Bircheat?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.