2010
#159,712
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 101
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.03
Very Rare Last name
Buyze
A surname possibly derived from a Dutch place name.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 122 Americans carry the last name Buyze. That puts it at #152,339 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,809,462 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Buyze 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
122
1 in 2,809,462
Census rank
#152,339
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
106
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 106 bearers of the surname Buyze in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 152339th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Buyze, the largest self-reported group is White at 96.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Buyze
The surname "BUYZE" is of Dutch origin, originating in the Netherlands during the late medieval period. It is believed to have derived from the Dutch word "buys" or "buis," which means "box" or "container." This suggests that the name may have been an occupational surname for someone who made or worked with boxes or containers.
The earliest known record of the surname "BUYZE" dates back to the 15th century in the city of Leiden, located in the western Netherlands. In a municipal record from 1487, a man named Jan Buyze is mentioned as a resident of the city. This document provides one of the earliest written examples of the surname's spelling and usage.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the name "BUYZE" appears in various records and documents throughout the Netherlands. In 1612, a merchant named Pieter Buyze is recorded as having traded goods between Amsterdam and the Dutch colonies in the East Indies. Another notable figure was Willem Buyze, a painter who lived in Delft during the 1650s and specialized in still-life paintings featuring boxes and other containers, potentially reflecting the occupational origins of his surname.
As the Dutch colonial empire expanded, the surname "BUYZE" spread to other parts of the world. In the late 17th century, a man named Adriaen Buyze emigrated from the Netherlands to the Dutch colony of Suriname in South America, where he established a successful plantation. His descendants continued to use the surname "BUYZE" in Suriname for generations.
In the 18th century, the name "BUYZE" appeared in records from the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia), where Dutch settlers and officials had established a presence. One notable figure was Jan Buyze, a merchant and trader who was based in Batavia (now Jakarta) in the 1720s.
Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, individuals with the surname "BUYZE" continued to be found in various parts of the Netherlands and its former colonies. Some notable examples include Cornelis Buyze, a Dutch politician who served as a member of the House of Representatives in the 1880s, and Johannes Buyze, a Dutch explorer and naturalist who studied the flora and fauna of the Dutch East Indies in the early 1900s.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Buyze
Among Census respondents with the surname Buyze, the largest self-reported group is White at 96.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Buyze 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 Buyze surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White96.2% · 102
- Two or more races2.8% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Buyze
Buyze appears in 2 published Census surname files: 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2020
#152,339
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 106
+5 bearers (+5.0%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 7,373 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #159,712 | 101 | 0.03 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #152,339 | 106 | 0.04 | +5 bearers (+5.0%) | Up 7,373 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 Buyze 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 | #159,712 | #152,339 | 4.6% |
| Count | 101 | 106 | 5.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.03 | 0.04 | 18.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Buyze bearers went from 101 to 106 (+5.0% change). The surname moved up 7,373 positions in the national ranking, going from #159,712 to #152,339.
FAQ
Buyze surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Buyze?
Name Census estimates that about 122 living Americans carry the surname Buyze. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,809,462 residents.
How common is Buyze?
Buyze ranks #152,339 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 106 people with the surname Buyze. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (122), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Buyze.
Has Buyze become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Buyze went from 101 recorded bearers to 106. That is an increase of 5 (+5.0%). In the national ranking it rose from #159,712 to #152,339.
What does the Census say about the background of Buyze?
Among Census respondents with the surname Buyze, the largest self-reported group is White at 96.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.9%). 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 Buyze in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.2% (102 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Buyze appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (96.2%), Two or More Races (2.8%), Asian/Pacific Islander (0.9%). 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 Buyze (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 Buyze mean?
A surname possibly derived from a Dutch place name. 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 Buyze (0.04 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 Buyze?
Find out how common the surname Buyze is on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.