2000
#8,729
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,466
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.28
Rare Last name
Blackstone
A locational surname referring to someone who lived near a dark rock or boulder.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,988 Americans carry the last name Blackstone. That puts it at #9,020 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.16 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 85,946 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Blackstone 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 Blackstone with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
4.0K
1 in 85,946
Census rank
#9,020
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
3.5K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 3,478 bearers of the surname Blackstone in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.16 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 9020th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Blackstone, the largest self-reported group is White at 77.1%. The next largest groups are Black (12.4%) and Two or More Races (5.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Blackstone
The surname Blackstone originated in England during the medieval period. It is a locational name derived from various place names containing the elements "black" and "stone," which could refer to the dark color of stones found in a particular area or the presence of a black stone structure or landmark.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the surname Blackstone can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire from the year 1208, where a person named William de Blakestan is listed. This spelling variation suggests that the name may have originated from a place called Blackstone or Blakeston.
In the Domesday Book of 1086, several places with similar names are mentioned, such as Blachestun (Derbyshire) and Blachestone (Worcestershire). These place names could have been the sources from which the surname Blackstone later derived.
The earliest known bearer of the surname Blackstone was Sir William Blackstone (c. 1595-1675), an English judge and politician who served as a Member of Parliament for several constituencies during the reign of Charles I.
Another notable figure with the surname Blackstone was Sir William Blackstone (1723-1780), an English jurist, judge, and professor who is renowned for his influential work, "Commentaries on the Laws of England," which became a seminal text on English common law.
In the 16th century, a family of Blackstones owned lands in Woodcote, Oxfordshire. Erasmus Blackstone (c. 1525-1598) was a member of this family and served as a Member of Parliament for Ipswich in 1558.
During the English Civil War, John Blackstone (1615-1679) was a lawyer and judge who supported the Parliamentarian cause and served as Chief Justice of the King's Bench under Oliver Cromwell's Protectorate.
In the United States, one of the earliest recorded Blackstones was William Blackstone (1595-1675), who immigrated from England to Boston, Massachusetts, in 1623 and became a prominent landowner and colonial magistrate.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Blackstone
Among Census respondents with the surname Blackstone, the largest self-reported group is White at 77.1%. The next largest groups are Black (12.4%) and Two or More Races (5.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Blackstone 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 Blackstone surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White77.1% · 2,680
- Black or African American12.4% · 430
- Two or more races5.6% · 196
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 133
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 20
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 19
Timeline
Historical Census data for Blackstone
Blackstone 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
#8,946
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,659
+193 bearers (+5.6%)
Per 100,000 1.24
Rank movement Down 217 places
2020
#9,020
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,478
-181 bearers (-4.9%)
Per 100,000 1.16
Rank movement Down 74 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #8,729 | 3,466 | 1.28 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #8,946 | 3,659 | 1.24 | +193 bearers (+5.6%) | Down 217 places |
| 2020 | #9,020 | 3,478 | 1.16 | -181 bearers (-4.9%) | Down 74 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 Blackstone 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 | #8,946 | #9,020 | -0.8% |
| Count | 3,659 | 3,478 | -4.9% |
| Per 100K | 1.24 | 1.16 | -6.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Blackstone bearers went from 3,659 to 3,478 (-4.9% change). The surname moved down 74 positions in the national ranking, going from #8,946 to #9,020.
FAQ
Blackstone surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Blackstone?
Name Census estimates that about 3,988 living Americans carry the surname Blackstone. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 85,946 residents.
How common is Blackstone?
Blackstone ranks #9,020 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.16 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 3,478 people with the surname Blackstone. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,988), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.16 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.16 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 Blackstone.
Has Blackstone become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Blackstone went from 3,659 recorded bearers to 3,478. That is a decrease of 181 (-4.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #8,946 to #9,020.
What does the Census say about the background of Blackstone?
Among Census respondents with the surname Blackstone, the largest self-reported group is White at 77.1%. The next largest groups are Black (12.4%) and Two or More Races (5.6%). 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 Blackstone in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.1% (2,680 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Blackstone appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (77.1%), Black (12.4%), Two or More Races (5.6%). 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 Blackstone (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 Blackstone mean?
A locational surname referring to someone who lived near a dark rock or boulder. 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 Blackstone (1.16 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 surname Blackstone?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.