2000
#9,845
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,028
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.12
Rare Last name
Boots
An occupational surname for a maker or seller of boots or for a person who wore boots.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,462 Americans carry the last name Boots. That puts it at #10,167 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.01 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 99,005 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Boots 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 Boots with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
3.5K
1 in 99,005
Census rank
#10,167
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
3.0K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 3,019 bearers of the surname Boots in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.01 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 10167th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Boots, the largest self-reported group is White at 86.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.5%) and Hispanic (3.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Boots
The surname Boots is of English origin and dates back to the 13th century. It is believed to have derived from the Old English word "bōt," which meant "boot" or "shoe." The name likely referred to an occupation or a nickname for someone who made or repaired boots.
In medieval England, surnames often arose from the type of work a person did, and the name Boots may have been given to a cobbler or shoemaker. The earliest known record of the name appears in the Hundred Rolls of Cambridgeshire in 1273, where it is spelled "Bote."
During the 14th century, the name is found in various historical records, including the Poll Tax Returns of Yorkshire from 1379, where it is listed as "Boote." This variation in spelling was common in those times due to the lack of standardized spelling conventions.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the surname Boots was John Bote, who was mentioned in the Court Rolls of the Manor of Wakefield in Yorkshire in 1315. Another notable bearer of the name was William Boots, a tanner from Nottingham, who was born around 1550.
In the 17th century, the Boots family established themselves in the village of Radcliffe-on-Trent in Nottinghamshire. John Boots (1615-1684), a farmer from this village, is considered one of the earliest ancestors of the famous Boots family of entrepreneurs and businessmen.
The most famous bearer of the surname Boots was Jesse Boots (1809-1887), the founder of the Boots Company, a prominent retail chain of chemists and pharmacists in the United Kingdom. His son, Jesse Boots (1850-1929), continued the family business and was later ennobled as Baron Trent.
Other notable individuals with the surname Boots include:
1. William Boots (1799-1880), a prominent English industrialist and manufacturer of agricultural machinery.
2. Reginald Boots (1884-1943), a British architect and designer known for his work on several iconic London Underground stations.
3. Beryl Boots (1918-2005), an English opera singer and actress who performed with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.
4. Eric Boots (1910-1984), a British journalist and writer who worked for the BBC and authored several books on World War II.
5. Michael Boots (born 1962), a British evolutionary biologist and professor at the University of California, Berkeley.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Boots
Among Census respondents with the surname Boots, the largest self-reported group is White at 86.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.5%) and Hispanic (3.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Boots 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 Boots surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White86.9% · 2,624
- Two or more races3.5% · 105
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 100
- Black or African American3.0% · 90
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.1% · 63
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 37
Timeline
Historical Census data for Boots
Boots 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
#10,424
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,087
+59 bearers (+1.9%)
Per 100,000 1.05
Rank movement Down 579 places
2020
#10,167
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,019
-68 bearers (-2.2%)
Per 100,000 1.01
Rank movement Up 257 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #9,845 | 3,028 | 1.12 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #10,424 | 3,087 | 1.05 | +59 bearers (+1.9%) | Down 579 places |
| 2020 | #10,167 | 3,019 | 1.01 | -68 bearers (-2.2%) | Up 257 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 Boots 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 | #10,424 | #10,167 | 2.5% |
| Count | 3,087 | 3,019 | -2.2% |
| Per 100K | 1.05 | 1.01 | -3.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Boots bearers went from 3,087 to 3,019 (-2.2% change). The surname moved up 257 positions in the national ranking, going from #10,424 to #10,167.
FAQ
Boots surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Boots?
Name Census estimates that about 3,462 living Americans carry the surname Boots. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 99,005 residents.
How common is Boots?
Boots ranks #10,167 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.01 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 3,019 people with the surname Boots. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,462), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.01 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.01 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 Boots.
Has Boots become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Boots went from 3,087 recorded bearers to 3,019. That is a decrease of 68 (-2.2%). In the national ranking it rose from #10,424 to #10,167.
What does the Census say about the background of Boots?
Among Census respondents with the surname Boots, the largest self-reported group is White at 86.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.5%) and Hispanic (3.3%). 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 Boots in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.9% (2,624 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Boots appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (86.9%), Two or More Races (3.5%), Hispanic (3.3%). 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 Boots (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 Boots mean?
An occupational surname for a maker or seller of boots or for a person who wore boots. 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 Boots (1.01 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 Boots?
If you just want to know how many people have the last name Boots, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.