2000
#4,195
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,837
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.91
Rare Last name
Blackwood
A locational surname referring to someone who lived near a dark or dense forest.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 9,658 Americans carry the last name Blackwood. That puts it at #4,084 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.82 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 35,489 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Blackwood 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 Blackwood with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
9.7K
1 in 35,489
Census rank
#4,084
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
8.4K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 8,422 bearers of the surname Blackwood in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.82 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 4084th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Blackwood, the largest self-reported group is White at 67.6%. The next largest groups are Black (22.1%) and Hispanic (4.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Blackwood
The surname Blackwood originated in England and Scotland during the medieval period. It is a locational surname derived from various place names containing the elements "black" and "wood," referring to a dark or dense forest or woodland area.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as "Blachwde" and "Blakewde." These entries likely refer to individuals who hailed from places with such names, which were common throughout England and Scotland at the time.
In the 12th century, the name appears as "de Blakewode" in the Pipe Rolls of Staffordshire, indicating its use as a surname by that point. The prefix "de" was commonly used to denote a person's place of origin.
Over the centuries, the name has been spelled in various ways, including Blackwood, Blackwode, Blacwode, and Blakwood, among others. These variations reflect the fluid nature of spelling during the medieval and early modern periods.
One notable figure associated with the surname was Sir John Blackwood (c. 1539-1615), a Scottish landowner and politician who served as Lord Privy Seal of Scotland under King James VI.
Another prominent individual was Sir Adam Blackwood (1674-1749), a Scottish lawyer and judge who served as Lord Justice Clerk, one of the highest judicial offices in Scotland at the time.
In the 18th century, Sir John Blackwood (1721-1779) was a British naval officer who played a significant role in several battles during the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War.
The name Blackwood has also been associated with literary figures, such as Algernon Blackwood (1869-1951), an English short story writer and novelist known for his supernatural fiction.
Additionally, William Blackwood (1776-1834) was a notable Scottish publisher and the founder of Blackwood's Magazine, a leading literary periodical of the 19th century.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Blackwood
Among Census respondents with the surname Blackwood, the largest self-reported group is White at 67.6%. The next largest groups are Black (22.1%) and Hispanic (4.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Blackwood 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 Blackwood surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White67.6% · 5,693
- Black or African American22.1% · 1,863
- Hispanic or Latino4.8% · 407
- Two or more races4.1% · 344
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 67
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 48
Timeline
Historical Census data for Blackwood
Blackwood 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
#4,213
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 8,407
+570 bearers (+7.3%)
Per 100,000 2.85
Rank movement Down 18 places
2020
#4,084
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 8,422
+15 bearers (+0.2%)
Per 100,000 2.82
Rank movement Up 129 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #4,195 | 7,837 | 2.91 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #4,213 | 8,407 | 2.85 | +570 bearers (+7.3%) | Down 18 places |
| 2020 | #4,084 | 8,422 | 2.82 | +15 bearers (+0.2%) | Up 129 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 Blackwood 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 | #4,213 | #4,084 | 3.1% |
| Count | 8,407 | 8,422 | 0.2% |
| Per 100K | 2.85 | 2.82 | -1.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Blackwood bearers went from 8,407 to 8,422 (+0.2% change). The surname moved up 129 positions in the national ranking, going from #4,213 to #4,084.
FAQ
Blackwood surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Blackwood?
Name Census estimates that about 9,658 living Americans carry the surname Blackwood. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 35,489 residents.
How common is Blackwood?
Blackwood ranks #4,084 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.82 per 100,000 residents, which is about 3 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 8,422 people with the surname Blackwood. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (9,658), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2.82 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.82 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 3 of them to have the surname Blackwood.
Has Blackwood become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Blackwood went from 8,407 recorded bearers to 8,422. That is an increase of 15 (+0.2%). In the national ranking it rose from #4,213 to #4,084.
What does the Census say about the background of Blackwood?
Among Census respondents with the surname Blackwood, the largest self-reported group is White at 67.6%. The next largest groups are Black (22.1%) and Hispanic (4.8%). 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 Blackwood in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.6% (5,693 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Blackwood appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (67.6%), Black (22.1%), Hispanic (4.8%). 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 Blackwood (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 Blackwood mean?
A locational surname referring to someone who lived near a dark or dense forest. 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 Blackwood (2.82 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 Americans have the surname Blackwood?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.