2000
#5,813
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,448
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.02
Rare Last name
Comeau
A French toponymic surname referring to someone who lived near a small valley, from Old French "combe".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 6,074 Americans carry the last name Comeau. That puts it at #6,195 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.77 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 56,430 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Comeau 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
6.1K
1 in 56,430
Census rank
#6,195
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
5.3K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 5,297 bearers of the surname Comeau in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.77 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 6195th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Comeau, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.6%) and Hispanic (2.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Comeau
The surname Comeau originated in France, specifically in the region of Poitou-Charentes in the west-central part of the country. It first appeared during the 12th century and is derived from the Old French word "comeau," which means a small valley or hollow.
The earliest recorded mention of the name Comeau can be found in a document from the Vienne region, dated 1187. It referred to a landowner named Pierre Comeau who owned a small parcel of land near a valley. This suggests that the name was originally a topographic surname, describing the location where the bearer lived or worked.
Another early reference to the surname Comeau can be found in the Livre des Bourgeois de Gand, a record of the citizens of Ghent, Belgium, from the 13th century. In this document, there is an entry for a merchant named Jean Comeau, who hailed from the village of Comeau near Poitiers, France.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Comeau name began to spread across France and into neighboring regions. One notable bearer of the name was Jacques Comeau (1572-1649), a French mathematician and astronomer from Bordeaux. He published several works on celestial navigation and was a pioneer in the development of accurate nautical charts.
In the 18th century, the Comeau surname made its way to the Americas, with many bearers emigrating from France to French colonies in Canada and the Caribbean. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name in North America is that of Pierre Comeau (1721-1799), a French settler who arrived in Acadia (present-day Nova Scotia and New Brunswick) in 1755.
Another prominent figure with the Comeau surname was Marguerite Comeau (1838-1922), a French-Canadian writer and educator from Quebec. She published several books on history and literature and was a strong advocate for women's education in the late 19th century.
Throughout history, the Comeau surname has been subject to various spelling variations, including Comaut, Comault, Comeau, Comeaux, and Commeaux. These variations were often due to regional dialects and the inconsistencies of record-keeping during earlier periods.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Comeau
Among Census respondents with the surname Comeau, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.6%) and Hispanic (2.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Comeau 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 Comeau surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.8% · 4,756
- Two or more races3.6% · 191
- Hispanic or Latino2.6% · 136
- Black or African American2.5% · 133
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 53
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 28
Timeline
Historical Census data for Comeau
Comeau 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
#6,115
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,609
+161 bearers (+3.0%)
Per 100,000 1.90
Rank movement Down 302 places
2020
#6,195
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,297
-312 bearers (-5.6%)
Per 100,000 1.77
Rank movement Down 80 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #5,813 | 5,448 | 2.02 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #6,115 | 5,609 | 1.90 | +161 bearers (+3.0%) | Down 302 places |
| 2020 | #6,195 | 5,297 | 1.77 | -312 bearers (-5.6%) | Down 80 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 Comeau 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 | #6,115 | #6,195 | -1.3% |
| Count | 5,609 | 5,297 | -5.6% |
| Per 100K | 1.90 | 1.77 | -6.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Comeau bearers went from 5,609 to 5,297 (-5.6% change). The surname moved down 80 positions in the national ranking, going from #6,115 to #6,195.
FAQ
Comeau surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Comeau?
Name Census estimates that about 6,074 living Americans carry the surname Comeau. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 56,430 residents.
How common is Comeau?
Comeau ranks #6,195 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.77 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 5,297 people with the surname Comeau. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (6,074), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.77 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.77 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Comeau.
Has Comeau become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Comeau went from 5,609 recorded bearers to 5,297. That is a decrease of 312 (-5.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #6,115 to #6,195.
What does the Census say about the background of Comeau?
Among Census respondents with the surname Comeau, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.6%) and Hispanic (2.6%). 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 Comeau in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.8% (4,756 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Comeau appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (89.8%), Two or More Races (3.6%), Hispanic (2.6%). 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 Comeau (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 Comeau mean?
A French toponymic surname referring to someone who lived near a small valley, from Old French "combe". 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 Comeau (1.77 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 Comeau?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.