Buntin last name popularity, history, and meaning

Find out how popular the last name Buntin is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Buntin.

Meaning of Buntin

A locational surname suggesting a family originally from a place called Buntin.

Buntin, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Buntin surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Buntin in America

Buntin is the 16338th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Buntin surname appeared 1,764 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Buntin.

We can also compare 2010 data for Buntin to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 16338 16147 1.18%
Count 1,764 1,646 6.92%
Proportion per 100k 0.60 0.61 -1.65%

The history of the last name Buntin

The surname Buntin originated in Scotland in the 13th century. It is derived from the Gaelic word "bun" meaning "stump" or "root," and the suffix "tin" which denotes "little." The name likely referred to a person who lived near a prominent tree stump or root.

The earliest recorded instance of the name Buntin appears in the Ragman Rolls of 1296, a historical document recording those who swore fealty to King Edward I of England. One entry lists a "William de Buntyn" from the county of Angus.

In the 15th century, the Buntin name was found in various spellings such as Buntyn, Bunting, and Bunton in records from the counties of Angus, Perthshire, and Fife. The spelling "Buntin" became more standardized in the 17th century.

The name Buntin is also linked to the place name Bunton, a small village in East Lothian, Scotland. It is thought that some Buntins may have derived their surname from this location.

Notable individuals with the surname Buntin include:

  1. Sir James Buntin (1605-1677), a Scottish merchant and landowner who served as Lord Provost of Edinburgh from 1665 to 1667.
  2. Alexander Buntin (1670-1736), a Scottish mathematician and astronomer who made significant contributions to the development of logarithms.
  3. Mary Buntin (1718-1792), a Scottish poet and writer known for her collection of poems titled "The Lowland Lyre."
  4. Robert Buntin (1810-1888), a Scottish-born settler in Australia who established one of the first sheep stations in the Riverina region of New South Wales.
  5. William Buntin (1842-1911), a Scottish-American industrialist who founded the Buntin Steel Company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

While the Buntin name has roots in Scotland, it has since spread to other parts of the world, including England, Ireland, and North America, where descendants of Scottish immigrants have carried on the surname.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Buntin

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Buntin.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

  1. White only
  2. Black only
  3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
  4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
  5. Hispanic
  6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Buntin was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 80.16% 1,414
Non-Hispanic Black Only 13.66% 241
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 0.62% 11
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.28% 5
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 2.32% 41
Hispanic Origin 2.95% 52

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Buntin has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 80.16% 81.11% -1.18%
Black 13.66% 13.97% -2.24%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.62% (S)% (S)%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.28% (S)% (S)%
Two or More Races 2.32% 2.31% 0.43%
Hispanic 2.95% 1.88% 44.31%

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Buntin was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Buntin, please contact us.

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!

"Buntin last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on July 11, 2025. http://namecensus.com/last-names/buntin-surname-popularity/.

"Buntin last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/buntin-surname-popularity/. Accessed 11 July, 2025

Buntin last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/buntin-surname-popularity/.

Search for a name

Search for a first or last name to learn more about its origin, meaning, and more.

Simple as that.