2000
#583
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 52,004
First available Census row
Per 100,000 19.28
Uncommon Last name
Bruce
A surname of Norman French origin, derived from the place name Brix, referring to someone from that location.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 58,344 Americans carry the last name Bruce. That puts it at #652 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 17.02 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 5,875 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Bruce 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 Bruce with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
58K
1 in 5,875
Census rank
#652
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
17.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
51K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 50,879 bearers of the surname Bruce in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 17.02 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 652nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Bruce, the largest self-reported group is White at 74.3%. The next largest groups are Black (15.7%) and Two or More Races (4.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Bruce
The surname BRUCE is of Norman-French origin and derives from the Old French word bruis or brix, meaning a brook or stream. This name originates from the village of Brix in Normandy, France and first appeared in written records following the Norman conquest of England in 1066.
The name is believed to have been introduced to Britain by one of the Norman knights who accompanied William the Conqueror during the invasion. This Norman knight likely originated from the village of Brix and took on the surname BRUCE after settling in his newly acquired lands in England.
The earliest recorded instance of the BRUCE surname appears in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it is listed as de Brus or de Bruis. This entry refers to Robert de Brus, a Norman landowner who held estates in Yorkshire and Cleveland.
Over the centuries, the BRUCE surname spread across various regions of Britain, with notable bearers of the name including Robert the Bruce (1274-1329), the famous Scottish king who secured Scotland's independence from England at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.
Other prominent individuals with the BRUCE surname include Edward Bruce (1275-1318), King Robert's brother and a renowned military leader, and David Bruce (1324-1371), a Scottish king and the last male descendant of the House of Bruce to rule Scotland.
In Scotland, the name is often associated with the historic town of Lochmaben, where the ancestral seat of the Bruce family, Lochmaben Castle, was located. The town's name is derived from the Gaelic words loch and maban, meaning a loch or lake named after a person called Maban.
In the United States, one of the earliest recorded instances of the BRUCE surname dates back to the 17th century, with the arrival of William Bruce, a Scottish immigrant who settled in Virginia in 1650. Another notable American bearer of the name was David Bruce (1770-1824), a Scottish-American soldier and politician who served as the Governor of Virginia.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bruce
Among Census respondents with the surname Bruce, the largest self-reported group is White at 74.3%. The next largest groups are Black (15.7%) and Two or More Races (4.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Bruce 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 Bruce surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White74.3% · 37,810
- Black or African American15.7% · 7,986
- Two or more races4.4% · 2,254
- Hispanic or Latino3.6% · 1,827
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 536
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 466
Timeline
Historical Census data for Bruce
Bruce 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
#636
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 53,419
+1,415 bearers (+2.7%)
Per 100,000 18.11
Rank movement Down 53 places
2020
#652
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 50,879
-2,540 bearers (-4.8%)
Per 100,000 17.02
Rank movement Down 16 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #583 | 52,004 | 19.28 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #636 | 53,419 | 18.11 | +1,415 bearers (+2.7%) | Down 53 places |
| 2020 | #652 | 50,879 | 17.02 | -2,540 bearers (-4.8%) | Down 16 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 Bruce 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 | #636 | #652 | -2.5% |
| Count | 53,419 | 50,879 | -4.8% |
| Per 100K | 18.11 | 17.02 | -6.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Bruce bearers went from 53,419 to 50,879 (-4.8% change). The surname moved down 16 positions in the national ranking, going from #636 to #652.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Bruce
FAQ
Bruce surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Bruce?
Name Census estimates that about 58,344 living Americans carry the surname Bruce. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 5,875 residents.
How common is Bruce?
Bruce ranks #652 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 17.02 per 100,000 residents, which is about 17 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 50,879 people with the surname Bruce. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (58,344), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 17.02 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 17.02 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 17 of them to have the surname Bruce.
Has Bruce become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Bruce went from 53,419 recorded bearers to 50,879. That is a decrease of 2,540 (-4.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #636 to #652.
What does the Census say about the background of Bruce?
Among Census respondents with the surname Bruce, the largest self-reported group is White at 74.3%. The next largest groups are Black (15.7%) and Two or More Races (4.4%). 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 Bruce in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.3% (37,810 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Bruce appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (74.3%), Black (15.7%), Two or More Races (4.4%). 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 Bruce (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 Bruce mean?
A surname of Norman French origin, derived from the place name Brix, referring to someone from that location. 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 Bruce (17.02 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 Bruce?
You can see how many people have the last name Bruce on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.