2000
#10,294
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,868
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.06
Rare Last name
Buskirk
Derived from a place name meaning "church in the bush" in Dutch.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,119 Americans carry the last name Buskirk. That puts it at #11,132 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.91 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 109,892 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Buskirk 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
3.1K
1 in 109,892
Census rank
#11,132
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.7K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,720 bearers of the surname Buskirk in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.91 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 11132nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Buskirk, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.0%) and Two or More Races (3.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Buskirk
The surname Buskirk originated in the Netherlands in the 16th century. It is derived from the Dutch words "bos" meaning woods and "kerk" meaning church, referring to a church located near or within a wooded area. The earliest recorded spelling of the name was Bossekerk, which eventually evolved into Buskirk.
One of the earliest known references to the surname Buskirk can be found in the records of the Dutch Reformed Church in Amsterdam, where a family by the name of Bossekerk was documented in the late 1500s. This family likely hailed from a village or town near a wooded church, hence the origin of their surname.
As Dutch settlers began to migrate to the New World in the 17th century, the Buskirk surname made its way across the Atlantic. One of the first recorded instances of the name in America was in 1655, when Hendrick Jansen Buskirk arrived in New Amsterdam (present-day New York City).
In the 18th century, several notable individuals bore the Buskirk surname. Abraham Buskirk (1714-1788) was a prominent landowner and businessman in colonial New York, while Jacob Buskirk (1730-1811) served as a captain in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.
The 19th century saw the rise of a few more prominent Buskirks, including Henry Buskirk (1827-1903), a successful banker and businessman in Indiana, and Reverend Charles Buskirk (1841-1911), a Methodist minister and author from Pennsylvania.
One of the most well-known individuals with the Buskirk surname was Alden Buskirk (1855-1936), an American architect who designed numerous notable buildings in New York City, including the American Museum of Natural History and the Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Monument in Riverside Park.
While the Buskirk surname originated in the Netherlands, it has since spread to other parts of the world, including the United States, Canada, and Australia, where various branches of the Buskirk family have established roots and made their mark throughout history.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Buskirk
Among Census respondents with the surname Buskirk, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.0%) and Two or More Races (3.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Buskirk 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 Buskirk surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.7% · 2,468
- Hispanic or Latino4.0% · 108
- Two or more races3.7% · 101
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 18
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 13
- Black or African American0.4% · 12
Timeline
Historical Census data for Buskirk
Buskirk 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
#11,264
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,807
-61 bearers (-2.1%)
Per 100,000 0.95
Rank movement Down 970 places
2020
#11,132
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,720
-87 bearers (-3.1%)
Per 100,000 0.91
Rank movement Up 132 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #10,294 | 2,868 | 1.06 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #11,264 | 2,807 | 0.95 | -61 bearers (-2.1%) | Down 970 places |
| 2020 | #11,132 | 2,720 | 0.91 | -87 bearers (-3.1%) | Up 132 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 Buskirk 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 | #11,264 | #11,132 | 1.2% |
| Count | 2,807 | 2,720 | -3.1% |
| Per 100K | 0.95 | 0.91 | -4.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Buskirk bearers went from 2,807 to 2,720 (-3.1% change). The surname moved up 132 positions in the national ranking, going from #11,264 to #11,132.
FAQ
Buskirk surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Buskirk?
Name Census estimates that about 3,119 living Americans carry the surname Buskirk. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 109,892 residents.
How common is Buskirk?
Buskirk ranks #11,132 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.91 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 2,720 people with the surname Buskirk. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,119), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.91 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.91 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 Buskirk.
Has Buskirk become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Buskirk went from 2,807 recorded bearers to 2,720. That is a decrease of 87 (-3.1%). In the national ranking it rose from #11,264 to #11,132.
What does the Census say about the background of Buskirk?
Among Census respondents with the surname Buskirk, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.0%) and Two or More Races (3.7%). 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 Buskirk in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.7% (2,468 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Buskirk appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (90.7%), Hispanic (4.0%), Two or More Races (3.7%). 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 Buskirk (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 Buskirk mean?
Derived from a place name meaning "church in the bush" in Dutch. 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 Buskirk (0.91 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 Buskirk?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people are called Buskirk at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.