2000
#2,012
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 16,513
First available Census row
Per 100,000 6.12
Uncommon Last name
Cormier
A French occupational surname referring to a maker or purveyor of pear cider or perry.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 18,547 Americans carry the last name Cormier. That puts it at #2,199 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 5.41 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 18,480 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Cormier 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
19K
1 in 18,480
Census rank
#2,199
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
5.4
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
16K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 16,174 bearers of the surname Cormier in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 5.41 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 2199th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Cormier, the largest self-reported group is White at 79.9%. The next largest groups are Black (13.3%) and Hispanic (3.1%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Cormier
The surname Cormier has its origins in France, dating back to the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old French word "cormier," which means "wild cherry tree." This suggests that the name may have originally referred to someone who lived near or worked with wild cherry trees.
The earliest recorded instances of the Cormier surname can be found in various historical documents from the 13th and 14th centuries in northern France, particularly in the regions of Normandy and Brittany. Some of these early records include the Livre des Bourgeois de Rouen from 1292, which mentions a Nicolas Cormier, and the Registres des Paroisses de Bretagne from the late 14th century, listing several individuals with the surname Cormier.
One notable historical figure bearing the Cormier name was Jean Cormier, a French merchant and explorer who was born in Bordeaux in the late 15th century. He is known for his travels to the New World, where he established trade routes and settlements along the eastern coast of Canada.
Another prominent figure was Jacques Cormier, a French mathematician and astronomer born in Poitiers in 1592. He made significant contributions to the field of celestial mechanics and published several influential works, including "Traité de l'Astronomie" in 1635.
In the 17th century, a branch of the Cormier family emigrated to Acadia (present-day eastern Canada and parts of the United States). One of the earliest recorded Acadian Cormiers was Étienne Cormier, who was born in Port-Royal (now Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia) in 1657.
As the Cormier surname spread throughout France and its colonies, variations in spelling emerged, including Cormière, Cormières, and Cormyers. The name was also found in various place names, such as Cormier-le-Vieux and Cormiers, villages in the French regions of Sarthe and Mayenne, respectively.
Other notable individuals with the Cormier surname include Marie-Anne Cormier (1755-1835), a Canadian Acadian farmer and businesswoman; François Cormier (1835-1916), a French-Canadian politician and lawyer; and André Cormier (1924-2013), a French-Canadian actor and filmmaker.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cormier
Among Census respondents with the surname Cormier, the largest self-reported group is White at 79.9%. The next largest groups are Black (13.3%) and Hispanic (3.1%).
The bar chart below shows how Cormier 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 Cormier surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White79.9% · 12,927
- Black or African American13.3% · 2,146
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 494
- Two or more races2.9% · 469
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 108
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 30
Timeline
Historical Census data for Cormier
Cormier 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
#2,081
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 17,377
+864 bearers (+5.2%)
Per 100,000 5.89
Rank movement Down 69 places
2020
#2,199
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 16,174
-1,203 bearers (-6.9%)
Per 100,000 5.41
Rank movement Down 118 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #2,012 | 16,513 | 6.12 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #2,081 | 17,377 | 5.89 | +864 bearers (+5.2%) | Down 69 places |
| 2020 | #2,199 | 16,174 | 5.41 | -1,203 bearers (-6.9%) | Down 118 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 Cormier 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 | #2,081 | #2,199 | -5.7% |
| Count | 17,377 | 16,174 | -6.9% |
| Per 100K | 5.89 | 5.41 | -8.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Cormier bearers went from 17,377 to 16,174 (-6.9% change). The surname moved down 118 positions in the national ranking, going from #2,081 to #2,199.
FAQ
Cormier surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Cormier?
Name Census estimates that about 18,547 living Americans carry the surname Cormier. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 18,480 residents.
How common is Cormier?
Cormier ranks #2,199 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 5.41 per 100,000 residents, which is about 5 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 16,174 people with the surname Cormier. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (18,547), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 5.41 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 5.41 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 5 of them to have the surname Cormier.
Has Cormier become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Cormier went from 17,377 recorded bearers to 16,174. That is a decrease of 1,203 (-6.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #2,081 to #2,199.
What does the Census say about the background of Cormier?
Among Census respondents with the surname Cormier, the largest self-reported group is White at 79.9%. The next largest groups are Black (13.3%) and Hispanic (3.1%). 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 Cormier in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.9% (12,927 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Cormier appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (79.9%), Black (13.3%), Hispanic (3.1%). 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 Cormier (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 Cormier mean?
A French occupational surname referring to a maker or purveyor of pear cider or perry. 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 Cormier (5.41 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 Cormier?
Find out how many people are called Cormier on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.