2000
#5,433
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,889
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.18
Rare Last name
Cordes
A surname of French origin referring to a rope maker or someone who lived near a cordage factory.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 6,387 Americans carry the last name Cordes. That puts it at #5,953 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.86 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 53,664 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Cordes 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 Cordes with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
6.4K
1 in 53,664
Census rank
#5,953
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
5.6K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 5,570 bearers of the surname Cordes in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.86 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 5953rd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Cordes, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.0%) and Two or More Races (3.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Cordes
The surname Cordes has its origins in France, tracing back to the early medieval period. It is derived from the Old French word "corde," meaning "rope" or "cord," suggesting a possible occupational connection to rope-making or a trade involving ropes.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name can be found in the Cartulaire de l'abbaye de Saint-Père de Chartres, a medieval cartulary from the 12th century. This document contains references to individuals bearing the surname Cordes residing in the Chartres region of northern France.
During the 13th century, the surname Cordes appeared in various records across Normandy and Brittany. Some notable examples include Guilleaume Cordes, a merchant from Rouen mentioned in the city's archives in 1265, and Jehan Cordes, a landowner from Saint-Malo recorded in a charter from 1289.
In the 14th century, the surname gained prominence in the region of Picardy, particularly in the town of Corbie. The Livre des bourgeois de Corbie, a historical record from 1369, lists several families with the surname Cordes among the town's prominent citizens.
During the Renaissance period, the Cordes surname spread to other parts of France and beyond. One notable figure was Jacques Cordes, a French poet and philosopher born in Toulouse in 1558 and known for his works on metaphysics and natural philosophy.
In the 17th century, the Cordes family established a presence in the French colony of Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti). Pierre Cordes, born in 1632 in Normandy, was one of the early settlers in the colony and served as a plantation owner and merchant.
Over the centuries, the surname Cordes has also been found in various spellings, such as Cordès, Cordé, and Cordée, reflecting regional variations and linguistic changes.
Other notable individuals bearing the Cordes surname include:
1. Jean-Baptiste Cordes (1768-1840), a French military officer who served in the Napoleonic Wars and became a Baron of the Empire.
2. Marie-Madeleine Cordes (1752-1829), a French Catholic nun and educator who founded the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Family in Avignon.
3. Wilhelm Cordes (1840-1917), a German architect and urban planner known for his work in Berlin and Hamburg.
4. Émile Cordes (1857-1945), a French artist and painter associated with the Barbizon School and the Impressionist movement.
5. Eugen Cordes (1886-1969), a German mathematician and educator who made significant contributions to the field of complex analysis.
While the surname Cordes has its roots in France, it has since spread to various parts of the world, carried by migrations and cultural exchanges throughout history.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cordes
Among Census respondents with the surname Cordes, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.0%) and Two or More Races (3.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Cordes 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 Cordes surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.7% · 4,997
- Hispanic or Latino4.0% · 225
- Two or more races3.2% · 178
- Black or African American2.0% · 111
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 38
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 21
Timeline
Historical Census data for Cordes
Cordes 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
#5,742
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,035
+146 bearers (+2.5%)
Per 100,000 2.05
Rank movement Down 309 places
2020
#5,953
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,570
-465 bearers (-7.7%)
Per 100,000 1.86
Rank movement Down 211 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #5,433 | 5,889 | 2.18 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #5,742 | 6,035 | 2.05 | +146 bearers (+2.5%) | Down 309 places |
| 2020 | #5,953 | 5,570 | 1.86 | -465 bearers (-7.7%) | Down 211 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 Cordes 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 | #5,742 | #5,953 | -3.7% |
| Count | 6,035 | 5,570 | -7.7% |
| Per 100K | 2.05 | 1.86 | -9.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Cordes bearers went from 6,035 to 5,570 (-7.7% change). The surname moved down 211 positions in the national ranking, going from #5,742 to #5,953.
FAQ
Cordes surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Cordes?
Name Census estimates that about 6,387 living Americans carry the surname Cordes. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 53,664 residents.
How common is Cordes?
Cordes ranks #5,953 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.86 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 5,570 people with the surname Cordes. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (6,387), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.86 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.86 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 Cordes.
Has Cordes become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Cordes went from 6,035 recorded bearers to 5,570. That is a decrease of 465 (-7.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #5,742 to #5,953.
What does the Census say about the background of Cordes?
Among Census respondents with the surname Cordes, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.0%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Cordes in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.7% (4,997 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Cordes appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (89.7%), Hispanic (4.0%), Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Cordes (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 Cordes mean?
A surname of French origin referring to a rope maker or someone who lived near a cordage factory. 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 Cordes (1.86 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 surname Cordes?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.