2000
#8,239
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,700
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.37
Rare Last name
Bracy
From an English place name meaning "bracken-covered island."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 4,149 Americans carry the last name Bracy. That puts it at #8,701 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.21 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 82,611 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Bracy 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 Bracy with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
4.1K
1 in 82,611
Census rank
#8,701
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
3.6K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 3,618 bearers of the surname Bracy in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.21 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 8701st position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Bracy, the largest self-reported group is Black at 45.7%. The next largest groups are White (42.3%) and Two or More Races (6.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Bracy
The surname Bracy is of Anglo-Norman origin, derived from a place name in Normandy, France. It is believed to have originated from the Old French words "bras" meaning "arm" and "cy" meaning "this place", referring to a locality named after a distinguishing physical feature.
The earliest known bearer of the surname was William de Bracy, a Norman knight who fought alongside William the Conqueror during the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. He was granted lands in Leicestershire, England, and his descendants adopted the surname Bracy.
In the Domesday Book of 1086, a record of landowners in England commissioned by William the Conqueror, the name is recorded as "Braci" and "Brasci". These early spellings reflect the Norman-French pronunciation of the name.
One notable member of the Bracy family was Sir Hugh Bracy, a prominent landowner and knight who lived in the late 12th century. He was involved in the Third Crusade and is mentioned in chronicles of the time.
Another early bearer of the name was Robert de Bracy, who was recorded as a landowner in Warwickshire, England, in the 13th century. The place name "Bracy" is derived from his holdings in the area.
In the 14th century, the surname appears in various spellings, including "Brascy", "Brassie", and "Brassye", reflecting the transition from Norman-French to English pronunciations.
One of the earliest recorded literary references to the surname is in the 14th-century poem "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight", where a character named Sir Bracy is mentioned as one of King Arthur's knights.
Other notable individuals with the surname Bracy include John Bracy, a member of the English Parliament in the 15th century, and Sir Edmund Bracy, a prominent military commander who served during the Wars of the Roses in the late 15th century.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bracy
Among Census respondents with the surname Bracy, the largest self-reported group is Black at 45.7%. The next largest groups are White (42.3%) and Two or More Races (6.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Bracy 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 Bracy surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American45.7% · 1,654
- White42.3% · 1,530
- Two or more races6.2% · 226
- Hispanic or Latino4.5% · 162
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 24
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 22
Timeline
Historical Census data for Bracy
Bracy 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
#8,635
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,808
+108 bearers (+2.9%)
Per 100,000 1.29
Rank movement Down 396 places
2020
#8,701
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,618
-190 bearers (-5.0%)
Per 100,000 1.21
Rank movement Down 66 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #8,239 | 3,700 | 1.37 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #8,635 | 3,808 | 1.29 | +108 bearers (+2.9%) | Down 396 places |
| 2020 | #8,701 | 3,618 | 1.21 | -190 bearers (-5.0%) | Down 66 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 Bracy 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 | #8,635 | #8,701 | -0.8% |
| Count | 3,808 | 3,618 | -5.0% |
| Per 100K | 1.29 | 1.21 | -6.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Bracy bearers went from 3,808 to 3,618 (-5.0% change). The surname moved down 66 positions in the national ranking, going from #8,635 to #8,701.
FAQ
Bracy surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Bracy?
Name Census estimates that about 4,149 living Americans carry the surname Bracy. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 82,611 residents.
How common is Bracy?
Bracy ranks #8,701 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.21 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 3,618 people with the surname Bracy. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (4,149), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.21 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.21 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 Bracy.
Has Bracy become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Bracy went from 3,808 recorded bearers to 3,618. That is a decrease of 190 (-5.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #8,635 to #8,701.
What does the Census say about the background of Bracy?
Among Census respondents with the surname Bracy, the largest self-reported group is Black at 45.7%. The next largest groups are White (42.3%) and Two or More Races (6.2%). 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?
Black is the largest self-reported group for the surname Bracy in the 2020 Census, accounting for 45.7% (1,654 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Bracy appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Black (45.7%), White (42.3%), Two or More Races (6.2%). 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 Bracy (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 Bracy mean?
From an English place name meaning "bracken-covered island." 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 Bracy (1.21 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 Bracy?
See how many people have the last name Bracy on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.