2000
#6,822
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,545
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.68
Rare Last name
Boisvert
A French toponymic surname referring to someone who lived near a green wood or forest.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 5,147 Americans carry the last name Boisvert. That puts it at #7,180 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.50 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 66,593 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Boisvert 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
5.1K
1 in 66,593
Census rank
#7,180
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.5
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
4.5K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 4,488 bearers of the surname Boisvert in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.50 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 7180th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Boisvert, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.4%) and Hispanic (2.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Boisvert
The surname Boisvert originates from France and dates back to the Middle Ages. It is a locational name derived from the French words "bois," meaning wood or forest, and "vert," meaning green. The name likely referred to someone who lived near a green woods or forest.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Boisvert can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, a record of landowners in England commissioned by William the Conqueror. This suggests that individuals with this surname may have migrated to England from France during the Norman Conquest.
In the 13th century, there are records of a family named Boisvert in the Burgundy region of France. The name was also found in various medieval manuscripts and records from the French provinces of Normandy, Brittany, and Poitou.
The earliest known bearer of the name Boisvert was Jean Boisvert, a French soldier born in 1587 in Rouen, Normandy. He fought in the Thirty Years' War and was knighted for his bravery on the battlefield.
Another notable individual with the surname was Marie Boisvert (1638-1711), a French Canadian pioneer and one of the first European settlers in what is now the province of Quebec. She arrived in New France (modern-day Canada) in 1653 and helped establish the settlement of Trois-Rivières.
In the 17th century, a branch of the Boisvert family settled in the Champagne region of France. One of their descendants, Jacques Boisvert (1724-1799), was a renowned winemaker and vineyard owner in the village of Épernay.
During the French Revolution, a prominent figure named Pierre Boisvert (1762-1835) emerged as a leader of the Jacobin movement. He played a role in the execution of King Louis XVI and later served as a deputy in the National Convention.
In the 19th century, a French artist named Émile Boisvert (1845-1918) gained recognition for his landscape paintings depicting the forests and countryside of his native Normandy region.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Boisvert
Among Census respondents with the surname Boisvert, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.4%) and Hispanic (2.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Boisvert 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 Boisvert surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.7% · 4,159
- Two or more races3.4% · 151
- Hispanic or Latino2.3% · 102
- Black or African American0.8% · 35
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 27
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 14
Timeline
Historical Census data for Boisvert
Boisvert 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
#6,958
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,821
+276 bearers (+6.1%)
Per 100,000 1.63
Rank movement Down 136 places
2020
#7,180
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,488
-333 bearers (-6.9%)
Per 100,000 1.50
Rank movement Down 222 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #6,822 | 4,545 | 1.68 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #6,958 | 4,821 | 1.63 | +276 bearers (+6.1%) | Down 136 places |
| 2020 | #7,180 | 4,488 | 1.50 | -333 bearers (-6.9%) | Down 222 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 Boisvert 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 | #6,958 | #7,180 | -3.2% |
| Count | 4,821 | 4,488 | -6.9% |
| Per 100K | 1.63 | 1.50 | -7.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Boisvert bearers went from 4,821 to 4,488 (-6.9% change). The surname moved down 222 positions in the national ranking, going from #6,958 to #7,180.
FAQ
Boisvert surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Boisvert?
Name Census estimates that about 5,147 living Americans carry the surname Boisvert. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 66,593 residents.
How common is Boisvert?
Boisvert ranks #7,180 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.50 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 4,488 people with the surname Boisvert. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (5,147), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.5 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.50 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Boisvert.
Has Boisvert become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Boisvert went from 4,821 recorded bearers to 4,488. That is a decrease of 333 (-6.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #6,958 to #7,180.
What does the Census say about the background of Boisvert?
Among Census respondents with the surname Boisvert, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.4%) and Hispanic (2.3%). 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 Boisvert in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.7% (4,159 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Boisvert appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.7%), Two or More Races (3.4%), Hispanic (2.3%). 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 Boisvert (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 Boisvert mean?
A French toponymic surname referring to someone who lived near a green wood or 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 Boisvert (1.50 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 Boisvert?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.