2000
#137,816
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 112
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Dechamplain
A locational surname derived from the French town of Champlain.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 118 Americans carry the last name Dechamplain. That puts it at #154,182 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,904,698 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Dechamplain 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
118
1 in 2,904,698
Census rank
#154,182
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
103
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 103 bearers of the surname Dechamplain in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 154182nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Dechamplain, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.8%) and Two or More Races (1.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Dechamplain
The surname DECHAMPLAIN is of French origin, tracing its roots back to the medieval period. It is believed to have originated from a place name, possibly derived from the Old French words "de" meaning "from" and "champ" meaning "field." This suggests that the name may have been associated with a specific location or region where open fields or agricultural lands were prominent.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name DECHAMPLAIN can be found in a 13th-century cartulary, a medieval manuscript that recorded legal transactions and documents related to a particular monastery or religious institution. The cartulary mentions a certain "Guillelmus de Champlain" who was a landowner in the region of Normandy, France.
In the 14th century, the name appears in various tax records and land registries across northern France, indicating the presence of families bearing this surname in areas such as Picardy, Île-de-France, and Champagne-Ardenne. Some notable individuals from this period include Jean DeChamplain, a merchant and landowner from Amiens, born around 1325, and Pierre DeChamplain, a notable scholar and theologian at the University of Paris, born in 1378.
The variant spelling "Dechamplain" gained prominence in the 16th century, particularly in the regions of Normandy and Brittany. One of the most famous bearers of this name was Samuel de Champlain, a French explorer and navigator who founded the city of Quebec in 1608. Born in Brouage, France, in 1567, Champlain played a pivotal role in the early colonization of New France and is widely regarded as the "Father of New France."
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the DECHAMPLAIN surname continued to appear in various records across France, with some families migrating to other parts of Europe and even to the New World. In the late 18th century, a notable figure named Louis DeChamplain served as a captain in the French army during the Napoleonic Wars, born in Rouen in 1775.
Another prominent individual bearing this surname was Émilie DeChamplain, a French novelist and feminist writer born in Bordeaux in 1821. Her works often explored themes of social justice and women's rights, making her a pioneering voice in the early feminist movement in France.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dechamplain
Among Census respondents with the surname Dechamplain, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.8%) and Two or More Races (1.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Dechamplain 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 Dechamplain surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.3% · 93
- Hispanic or Latino6.8% · 7
- Two or more races1.9% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Dechamplain
Dechamplain 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
#146,201
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 113
+1 bearers (+0.9%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 8,385 places
2020
#154,182
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 103
-10 bearers (-8.8%)
Per 100,000 0.03
Rank movement Down 7,981 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #137,816 | 112 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #146,201 | 113 | 0.04 | +1 bearers (+0.9%) | Down 8,385 places |
| 2020 | #154,182 | 103 | 0.03 | -10 bearers (-8.8%) | Down 7,981 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 Dechamplain 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 | #146,201 | #154,182 | -5.5% |
| Count | 113 | 103 | -8.8% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.03 | -13.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Dechamplain bearers went from 113 to 103 (-8.8% change). The surname moved down 7,981 positions in the national ranking, going from #146,201 to #154,182.
FAQ
Dechamplain surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Dechamplain?
Name Census estimates that about 118 living Americans carry the surname Dechamplain. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,904,698 residents.
How common is Dechamplain?
Dechamplain ranks #154,182 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 103 people with the surname Dechamplain. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (118), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.03 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.03 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Dechamplain.
Has Dechamplain become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Dechamplain went from 113 recorded bearers to 103. That is a decrease of 10 (-8.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #146,201 to #154,182.
What does the Census say about the background of Dechamplain?
Among Census respondents with the surname Dechamplain, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.8%) and Two or More Races (1.9%). 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 Dechamplain in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.3% (93 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Dechamplain appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (90.3%), Hispanic (6.8%), Two or More Races (1.9%). 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 Dechamplain (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 Dechamplain mean?
A locational surname derived from the French town of Champlain. 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 Dechamplain (0.03 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 Dechamplain?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.