2000
#14,115
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,956
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.73
Rare Last name
Capehart
An English topographic surname referring to someone who lived near a hill or cape.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,220 Americans carry the last name Capehart. That puts it at #14,724 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.65 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 154,394 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Capehart 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
2.2K
1 in 154,394
Census rank
#14,724
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.9K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,936 bearers of the surname Capehart in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.65 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 14724th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Capehart, the largest self-reported group is White at 69.1%. The next largest groups are Black (20.6%) and Two or More Races (4.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Capehart
The surname Capehart is of English origin, derived from a geographic location or place name. It is believed to have originated in the counties of Gloucestershire or Somerset in the southwest of England during the medieval period.
One of the earliest recorded spellings of the name is Cappehart, found in the Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire in 1230. This suggests the name may have been derived from a place name containing the Old English words "caeppe" meaning a cape or headland, and "hart" meaning a woodland or deer park.
Another possible origin is that the name Capehart is a combination of the Old English words "cap" meaning a cap or headpiece, and "heort" meaning a hart or stag, perhaps referring to an occupation or heraldic symbol.
The Capehart surname appears in several historical records, including the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire in 1327, where a William Cappehart is listed as a taxpayer. In the Lay Subsidy Rolls of Somerset from 1327, a John Capehart is recorded.
Notable individuals with the surname Capehart throughout history include:
1. Sir William Capehart (c. 1547-1621), an English merchant and Member of Parliament for Gloucester in 1586.
2. Thomas Capehart (1781-1859), an American military officer who served in the War of 1812 and later became a judge in Indiana.
3. Homer Earl Capehart (1897-1979), an American businessman and politician who served as a U.S. Senator from Indiana from 1945 to 1963.
4. John Capehart (born 1958), an American journalist and writer, currently an editorial writer and associate editor for The Washington Post.
5. Emily Capehart (born 1988), an American singer-songwriter and musician based in Nashville, Tennessee.
The Capehart surname has also been associated with various place names, such as Capehart Hollow in West Virginia and Capehart Mill in North Carolina, both of which may have been named after early settlers or landowners with the Capehart surname in those areas.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Capehart
Among Census respondents with the surname Capehart, the largest self-reported group is White at 69.1%. The next largest groups are Black (20.6%) and Two or More Races (4.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Capehart 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 Capehart surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White69.1% · 1,338
- Black or African American20.6% · 399
- Two or more races4.6% · 90
- Hispanic or Latino4.3% · 83
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 17
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 9
Timeline
Historical Census data for Capehart
Capehart 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
#14,564
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,046
+90 bearers (+4.6%)
Per 100,000 0.69
Rank movement Down 449 places
2020
#14,724
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,936
-110 bearers (-5.4%)
Per 100,000 0.65
Rank movement Down 160 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #14,115 | 1,956 | 0.73 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #14,564 | 2,046 | 0.69 | +90 bearers (+4.6%) | Down 449 places |
| 2020 | #14,724 | 1,936 | 0.65 | -110 bearers (-5.4%) | Down 160 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 Capehart 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 | #14,564 | #14,724 | -1.1% |
| Count | 2,046 | 1,936 | -5.4% |
| Per 100K | 0.69 | 0.65 | -6.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Capehart bearers went from 2,046 to 1,936 (-5.4% change). The surname moved down 160 positions in the national ranking, going from #14,564 to #14,724.
FAQ
Capehart surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Capehart?
Name Census estimates that about 2,220 living Americans carry the surname Capehart. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 154,394 residents.
How common is Capehart?
Capehart ranks #14,724 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.65 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 1,936 people with the surname Capehart. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,220), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.65 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.65 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 Capehart.
Has Capehart become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Capehart went from 2,046 recorded bearers to 1,936. That is a decrease of 110 (-5.4%). In the national ranking it fell from #14,564 to #14,724.
What does the Census say about the background of Capehart?
Among Census respondents with the surname Capehart, the largest self-reported group is White at 69.1%. The next largest groups are Black (20.6%) and Two or More Races (4.6%). 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 Capehart in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.1% (1,338 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Capehart appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (69.1%), Black (20.6%), Two or More Races (4.6%). 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 Capehart (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 Capehart mean?
An English topographic surname referring to someone who lived near a hill or cape. 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 Capehart (0.65 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 Americans have the surname Capehart?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.