2000
#15,250
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,771
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.66
Rare Last name
Bourdeau
A French topographic surname referring to someone living near a small board or plank, possibly a bridge.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,273 Americans carry the last name Bourdeau. That puts it at #14,475 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.66 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 150,794 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Bourdeau 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
2.3K
1 in 150,794
Census rank
#14,475
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.0K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,982 bearers of the surname Bourdeau in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.66 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 14475th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Bourdeau, the largest self-reported group is White at 75.3%. The next largest groups are Black (17.5%) and Two or More Races (3.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Bourdeau
The surname BOURDEAU originates from France, particularly the regions of Poitou-Charentes and Aquitaine. It likely emerged during the late medieval period, around the 13th or 14th century. The name is derived from the Old French word "bourde," meaning a small rural cottage or hut made of mud and straw. This suggests that the earliest bearers of this surname may have lived in such humble dwellings.
BOURDEAU is a variant spelling of the French surname BOURDEAUX, which itself is a locational name referring to the city of Bordeaux in southwestern France. Some of the earliest recorded instances of this surname can be found in medieval tax rolls and parish records from the Bordeaux region.
One notable early bearer of this name was Jean Bourdeau, a French soldier and explorer born around 1540. He is believed to have accompanied the explorer Jacques Cartier on his voyages to Canada in the 16th century. Another individual of note was Pierre Bourdeau, a 17th century French architect who worked on several notable buildings in Paris, including the Church of Saint-Sulpice.
In the 18th century, Jacques Bourdeau (1708-1777) was a prominent French mathematician and astronomer who made significant contributions to the study of celestial mechanics. During the same period, Marie Bourdeau (1718-1792) was a French playwright and novelist whose works often explored themes of social inequality and women's rights.
Moving into the 19th century, Louis Bourdeau (1824-1900) was a French philosopher and author who wrote extensively on topics such as positivism and the philosophy of science. He was a contemporary of the influential thinker Auguste Comte.
While the BOURDEAU surname is most closely associated with its French origins, it has also been adopted by families in other parts of Europe and the Americas, likely through immigration and cultural diffusion. However, the earliest and most significant historical records of this surname can be traced back to its roots in the Bordeaux region of France.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bourdeau
Among Census respondents with the surname Bourdeau, the largest self-reported group is White at 75.3%. The next largest groups are Black (17.5%) and Two or More Races (3.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Bourdeau 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 Bourdeau surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White75.3% · 1,493
- Black or African American17.5% · 346
- Two or more races3.3% · 65
- Hispanic or Latino2.8% · 55
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 11
Timeline
Historical Census data for Bourdeau
Bourdeau 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
#14,478
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,062
+291 bearers (+16.4%)
Per 100,000 0.70
Rank movement Up 772 places
2020
#14,475
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,982
-80 bearers (-3.9%)
Per 100,000 0.66
Rank movement Up 3 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #15,250 | 1,771 | 0.66 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #14,478 | 2,062 | 0.70 | +291 bearers (+16.4%) | Up 772 places |
| 2020 | #14,475 | 1,982 | 0.66 | -80 bearers (-3.9%) | Up 3 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 Bourdeau 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 | #14,478 | #14,475 | 0.0% |
| Count | 2,062 | 1,982 | -3.9% |
| Per 100K | 0.70 | 0.66 | -5.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Bourdeau bearers went from 2,062 to 1,982 (-3.9% change). The surname moved up 3 positions in the national ranking, going from #14,478 to #14,475.
FAQ
Bourdeau surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Bourdeau?
Name Census estimates that about 2,273 living Americans carry the surname Bourdeau. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 150,794 residents.
How common is Bourdeau?
Bourdeau ranks #14,475 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.66 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 1,982 people with the surname Bourdeau. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,273), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.66 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.66 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 Bourdeau.
Has Bourdeau become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Bourdeau went from 2,062 recorded bearers to 1,982. That is a decrease of 80 (-3.9%). In the national ranking it rose from #14,478 to #14,475.
What does the Census say about the background of Bourdeau?
Among Census respondents with the surname Bourdeau, the largest self-reported group is White at 75.3%. The next largest groups are Black (17.5%) and Two or More Races (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 Bourdeau in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.3% (1,493 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Bourdeau appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (75.3%), Black (17.5%), Two or More Races (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 Bourdeau (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 Bourdeau mean?
A French topographic surname referring to someone living near a small board or plank, possibly a bridge. 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 Bourdeau (0.66 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 common is the surname Bourdeau?
If you just want to know how many people are called Bourdeau, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.