2000
#12,829
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,201
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.82
Rare Last name
Bookman
An occupational surname referring to a scribe, secretary, or one who kept records and accounts.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,398 Americans carry the last name Bookman. That puts it at #13,843 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.70 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 142,933 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Bookman 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
2.4K
1 in 142,933
Census rank
#13,843
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.1K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,091 bearers of the surname Bookman in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.70 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 13843rd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Bookman, the largest self-reported group is White at 49.1%. The next largest groups are Black (42.9%) and Two or More Races (3.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Bookman
The surname Bookman has its origins in medieval England, specifically in the county of Yorkshire, where it first emerged in the 13th century. It is derived from the Old English words "boc" and "mann," which together mean "book man" or "scholar." This is likely a reference to an ancestor who worked as a scribe, copyist, or librarian during a time when books were rare and valuable commodities.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Bookman can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire from 1297, where a certain William Bookman is mentioned as a resident of the village of Cottingley. The name appears to have been concentrated in the Yorkshire region throughout the medieval period, with various spellings such as Bookeman, Bocman, and Bocmann appearing in local records.
In the 14th century, the Bookman surname began to spread beyond Yorkshire, with mentions of individuals bearing the name appearing in the Court Rolls of Lincolnshire and the Subsidy Rolls of Suffolk. This suggests that members of the family may have migrated to other parts of England, either for economic or personal reasons.
One notable historical figure associated with the Bookman surname is John Bookman, a 15th-century monk and scholar who resided at the Abbey of Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk. He is believed to have been born around 1420 and is credited with producing several illuminated manuscripts and theological treatises during his lifetime.
Another prominent individual was Robert Bookman, a merchant and alderman who lived in the city of York in the late 16th century. He was born in 1558 and played an active role in the city's governance, serving as Lord Mayor of York in 1592.
In the 17th century, the Bookman surname can be found in the parish records of several villages in Yorkshire, such as Wakefield, Huddersfield, and Barnsley. One notable figure from this period was William Bookman, a yeoman farmer born in Huddersfield in 1634, whose descendants can be traced through various family trees and genealogical records.
As the centuries progressed, members of the Bookman family continued to make their mark in various fields. For instance, in the 18th century, there was Samuel Bookman, a renowned clockmaker from Leeds who was active between 1720 and 1760.
In the 19th century, the Bookman surname gained recognition through the work of George Bookman, a prolific writer and journalist who was born in York in 1821. He is best known for his contributions to several popular magazines and newspapers of the time.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bookman
Among Census respondents with the surname Bookman, the largest self-reported group is White at 49.1%. The next largest groups are Black (42.9%) and Two or More Races (3.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Bookman 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 Bookman surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White49.1% · 1,027
- Black or African American42.9% · 898
- Two or more races3.6% · 75
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 72
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 5
Timeline
Historical Census data for Bookman
Bookman 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
#13,397
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,274
+73 bearers (+3.3%)
Per 100,000 0.77
Rank movement Down 568 places
2020
#13,843
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,091
-183 bearers (-8.0%)
Per 100,000 0.70
Rank movement Down 446 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #12,829 | 2,201 | 0.82 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #13,397 | 2,274 | 0.77 | +73 bearers (+3.3%) | Down 568 places |
| 2020 | #13,843 | 2,091 | 0.70 | -183 bearers (-8.0%) | Down 446 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 Bookman 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 | #13,397 | #13,843 | -3.3% |
| Count | 2,274 | 2,091 | -8.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.77 | 0.70 | -9.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Bookman bearers went from 2,274 to 2,091 (-8.0% change). The surname moved down 446 positions in the national ranking, going from #13,397 to #13,843.
FAQ
Bookman surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Bookman?
Name Census estimates that about 2,398 living Americans carry the surname Bookman. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 142,933 residents.
How common is Bookman?
Bookman ranks #13,843 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.70 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 2,091 people with the surname Bookman. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,398), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.7 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.70 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 Bookman.
Has Bookman become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Bookman went from 2,274 recorded bearers to 2,091. That is a decrease of 183 (-8.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #13,397 to #13,843.
What does the Census say about the background of Bookman?
Among Census respondents with the surname Bookman, the largest self-reported group is White at 49.1%. The next largest groups are Black (42.9%) and Two or More Races (3.6%). 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 Bookman in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.1% (1,027 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Bookman appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (49.1%), Black (42.9%), Two or More Races (3.6%). 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 Bookman (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 Bookman mean?
An occupational surname referring to a scribe, secretary, or one who kept records and accounts. 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 Bookman (0.70 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 Bookman?
See how many Americans have the surname Bookman on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.