2000
#15,404
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,748
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.65
Rare Last name
Calderwood
A locational surname referring to someone from a place where an alder tree grew near a forest.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,066 Americans carry the last name Calderwood. That puts it at #15,607 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.60 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 165,902 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Calderwood 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 Calderwood with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
2.1K
1 in 165,902
Census rank
#15,607
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.8K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,802 bearers of the surname Calderwood in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.60 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 15607th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Calderwood, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.6%) and Two or More Races (2.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Calderwood
The surname Calderwood has its roots in Scotland, originating from the lands of Calderwood located in the parish of East Kilbride, Lanarkshire. The name is derived from the Old English words "calder," meaning a cold stream or river, and "wudu," meaning a wood or forest, thus signifying the wooded area near a cold stream or river.
The earliest record of the name Calderwood can be found in the Ragman Rolls of 1296, which list the names of Scottish landowners who swore allegiance to King Edward I of England. In these rolls, the name is spelled as "de Calder Wode." This suggests that the Calderwood family held lands in the area during the late 13th century.
In the 16th century, the name appears in the records of the Baillie Court of Lanarkshire, where a John Calderwood is mentioned as a landowner in the parish of East Kilbride in 1573. This further solidifies the connection between the surname and the lands of Calderwood.
One notable historical figure bearing the Calderwood surname was David Calderwood (1575-1650), a Scottish Presbyterian minister and historian. He is best known for his comprehensive historical work, "The True History of the Church of Scotland," which chronicled the events of the Scottish Reformation from 1560 to 1625.
Another prominent individual with the Calderwood surname was Sir William Calderwood (1820-1898), a Scottish businessman and philanthropist. He made his fortune in the cotton trade and was instrumental in the establishment of several educational institutions in Scotland, including the Calderwood Lodge School in East Kilbride.
The Calderwood surname has also been associated with various place names in Scotland, such as Calderwood Castle, a 16th-century tower house located near East Kilbride, and Calderwood Glen, a picturesque wooded valley in the same area.
Over the centuries, the Calderwood surname has seen various spellings, including Calderwode, Calderwud, and Caulderwod, reflecting the evolving nature of language and regional variations in pronunciation and spelling.
Other notable individuals with the Calderwood surname include:
1. Henry Calderwood (1830-1897), a Scottish philosopher and academic who served as the Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh.
2. John Calderwood (1788-1858), a Scottish artist known for his landscape paintings and portraits.
3. Margaret Calderwood (1857-1909), a Scottish novelist and children's author, known for her works set in rural Scotland.
4. Robert Calderwood (1716-1789), a Scottish poet and dramatist, who wrote several plays and poems in the Scots dialect.
5. William Calderwood (1786-1865), a Scottish minister and author, who served as the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1842.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Calderwood
Among Census respondents with the surname Calderwood, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.6%) and Two or More Races (2.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Calderwood 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 Calderwood surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.6% · 1,669
- Hispanic or Latino3.6% · 64
- Two or more races2.3% · 41
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 21
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 4
- Black or African American0.2% · 3
Timeline
Historical Census data for Calderwood
Calderwood 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
#15,922
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,825
+77 bearers (+4.4%)
Per 100,000 0.62
Rank movement Down 518 places
2020
#15,607
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,802
-23 bearers (-1.3%)
Per 100,000 0.60
Rank movement Up 315 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #15,404 | 1,748 | 0.65 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #15,922 | 1,825 | 0.62 | +77 bearers (+4.4%) | Down 518 places |
| 2020 | #15,607 | 1,802 | 0.60 | -23 bearers (-1.3%) | Up 315 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 Calderwood 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 | #15,922 | #15,607 | 2.0% |
| Count | 1,825 | 1,802 | -1.3% |
| Per 100K | 0.62 | 0.60 | -2.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Calderwood bearers went from 1,825 to 1,802 (-1.3% change). The surname moved up 315 positions in the national ranking, going from #15,922 to #15,607.
FAQ
Calderwood surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Calderwood?
Name Census estimates that about 2,066 living Americans carry the surname Calderwood. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 165,902 residents.
How common is Calderwood?
Calderwood ranks #15,607 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.60 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 1,802 people with the surname Calderwood. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,066), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.6 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.60 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 Calderwood.
Has Calderwood become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Calderwood went from 1,825 recorded bearers to 1,802. That is a decrease of 23 (-1.3%). In the national ranking it rose from #15,922 to #15,607.
What does the Census say about the background of Calderwood?
Among Census respondents with the surname Calderwood, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.6%) and Two or More Races (2.3%). 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 Calderwood in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.6% (1,669 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Calderwood appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.6%), Hispanic (3.6%), Two or More Races (2.3%). 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 Calderwood (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 Calderwood mean?
A locational surname referring to someone from a place where an alder tree grew near a forest. 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 Calderwood (0.60 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 share the surname Calderwood?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.