2010
#133,863
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 126
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Boudrieau
A French surname originating from the word "boudrille", meaning bundle of straw or reed.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 136 Americans carry the last name Boudrieau. That puts it at #142,788 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,520,252 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Boudrieau 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
136
1 in 2,520,252
Census rank
#142,788
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
119
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 119 bearers of the surname Boudrieau in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 142788th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Boudrieau, the largest self-reported group is White at 98.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (0.8%) and Two or More Races (0.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Boudrieau
The surname Boudrieau is of French origin, originating from the region of Brittany in northwestern France. It likely dates back to the Middle Ages, around the 12th or 13th century.
The name is derived from the Old French words "bois" meaning "wood" and "riau" meaning "small stream," suggesting that it may have referred to someone who lived near a wooded stream or brook. Similar spellings include Boudriaux, Boudreaux, and Boudreault.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Boudrieau can be found in the Livre des Bourgeois de Rouen, a manuscript dating back to the 14th century, which lists several individuals with variations of the name.
In the 17th century, during the French colonization of North America, many individuals with the surname Boudrieau settled in the region of Acadia (present-day Nova Scotia and parts of New Brunswick). Among them was Pierre Boudrieau, born in 1635 in La Rochelle, France, who arrived in Acadia in the late 1600s.
Another notable figure was Jean Boudrieau, born in 1687 in Port-Royal, Acadia (now Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia), who played a role in the Acadian resistance against British rule during the Acadian Expulsion of the 1750s.
In the 18th century, many Acadians with the surname Boudrieau were deported by the British authorities and resettled in various regions, including Louisiana, where the name evolved into its Cajun spelling, Boudreaux.
One of the most famous individuals with the name was Joseph Boudreaux, born in 1811 in Louisiana, who served as a captain in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War.
Another notable figure was Amédée Boudrieau, born in 1856 in Quebec, Canada, who served as a member of the Canadian House of Commons from 1896 to 1904, representing the riding of Napierville.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Boudrieau
Among Census respondents with the surname Boudrieau, the largest self-reported group is White at 98.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (0.8%) and Two or More Races (0.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Boudrieau 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 Boudrieau surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White98.3% · 117
- Hispanic or Latino0.8% · 1
- Two or more races0.8% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Boudrieau
Boudrieau appears in 2 published Census surname files: 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2020
#142,788
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 119
-7 bearers (-5.6%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 8,925 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #133,863 | 126 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #142,788 | 119 | 0.04 | -7 bearers (-5.6%) | Down 8,925 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 Boudrieau 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 | #133,863 | #142,788 | -6.7% |
| Count | 126 | 119 | -5.6% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -0.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Boudrieau bearers went from 126 to 119 (-5.6% change). The surname moved down 8,925 positions in the national ranking, going from #133,863 to #142,788.
FAQ
Boudrieau surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Boudrieau?
Name Census estimates that about 136 living Americans carry the surname Boudrieau. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,520,252 residents.
How common is Boudrieau?
Boudrieau ranks #142,788 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 119 people with the surname Boudrieau. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (136), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Boudrieau.
Has Boudrieau become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Boudrieau went from 126 recorded bearers to 119. That is a decrease of 7 (-5.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #133,863 to #142,788.
What does the Census say about the background of Boudrieau?
Among Census respondents with the surname Boudrieau, the largest self-reported group is White at 98.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (0.8%) and Two or More Races (0.8%). 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 Boudrieau in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.3% (117 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Boudrieau appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (98.3%), Hispanic (0.8%), Two or More Races (0.8%). 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 Boudrieau (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 Boudrieau mean?
A French surname originating from the word "boudrille", meaning bundle of straw or reed. 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 Boudrieau (0.04 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 Boudrieau?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.