2000
#9,962
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,988
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.11
Rare Last name
Brisson
A French occupational surname referring to someone who broke flax or hemp, derived from the Old French "briseur".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,164 Americans carry the last name Brisson. That puts it at #11,008 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.92 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 108,329 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Brisson 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
3.2K
1 in 108,329
Census rank
#11,008
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.8K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,759 bearers of the surname Brisson in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.92 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 11008th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Brisson, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.3%. The next largest groups are Black (5.5%) and Two or More Races (3.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Brisson
The surname Brisson originated in France, where it can be traced back to the 12th century. It is derived from the Old French word "brison," which means "a piece of wood," and is likely an occupational name for someone who worked with wood or lived near a wooded area.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name is found in the Cartulaire de l'Abbaye de Redon, a medieval manuscript from Brittany, France, dating back to the 13th century. This document mentions a person named Guillelmus Brisson in the year 1240.
Brisson is also a place name in the Côte-d'Or region of France, and some bearers of the surname may have originated from or been associated with this location. Historical records from the 14th century show variations in the spelling, such as Brysson and Bryssoun.
Notable individuals with the surname Brisson include Barnabé Brisson (1531-1591), a French jurist and scholar who served as the President of the Parlement of Paris. Another prominent figure was Mathurin-Jacques Brisson (1723-1806), a French naturalist and zoologist who published several works on ornithology and quadrupeds.
In the 18th century, Pierre-Edouard Brisson (1738-1828) was a French dramatist and librettist who wrote several plays and operas. François-Pierre-Hippolyte Brisson (1806-1887) was a 19th-century French lawyer and politician who served as the Minister of Justice and Public Instruction.
Eugène-Henri Brisson (1835-1912) was a French statesman and Prime Minister of France from 1885 to 1886 and again from 1898 to 1905. He was known for his efforts to strengthen the parliamentary system and improve relations between France and other European powers.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Brisson
Among Census respondents with the surname Brisson, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.3%. The next largest groups are Black (5.5%) and Two or More Races (3.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Brisson 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 Brisson surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.3% · 2,435
- Black or African American5.5% · 153
- Two or more races3.4% · 94
- Hispanic or Latino1.6% · 45
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 15
Timeline
Historical Census data for Brisson
Brisson 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
#9,865
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,279
+291 bearers (+9.7%)
Per 100,000 1.11
Rank movement Up 97 places
2020
#11,008
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,759
-520 bearers (-15.9%)
Per 100,000 0.92
Rank movement Down 1,143 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #9,962 | 2,988 | 1.11 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #9,865 | 3,279 | 1.11 | +291 bearers (+9.7%) | Up 97 places |
| 2020 | #11,008 | 2,759 | 0.92 | -520 bearers (-15.9%) | Down 1,143 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 Brisson 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 | #9,865 | #11,008 | -11.6% |
| Count | 3,279 | 2,759 | -15.9% |
| Per 100K | 1.11 | 0.92 | -16.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Brisson bearers went from 3,279 to 2,759 (-15.9% change). The surname moved down 1,143 positions in the national ranking, going from #9,865 to #11,008.
FAQ
Brisson surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Brisson?
Name Census estimates that about 3,164 living Americans carry the surname Brisson. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 108,329 residents.
How common is Brisson?
Brisson ranks #11,008 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.92 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 2,759 people with the surname Brisson. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,164), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.92 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.92 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 Brisson.
Has Brisson become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Brisson went from 3,279 recorded bearers to 2,759. That is a decrease of 520 (-15.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #9,865 to #11,008.
What does the Census say about the background of Brisson?
Among Census respondents with the surname Brisson, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.3%. The next largest groups are Black (5.5%) and Two or More Races (3.4%). 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 Brisson in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.3% (2,435 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Brisson appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (88.3%), Black (5.5%), Two or More Races (3.4%). 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 Brisson (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 Brisson mean?
A French occupational surname referring to someone who broke flax or hemp, derived from the Old French "briseur". 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 Brisson (0.92 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 Americans have the surname Brisson?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.