2000
#11,464
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,520
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.93
Rare Last name
Degroat
A French occupational surname referring to a large or tall person, derived from the Old French "gros" meaning "large."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,938 Americans carry the last name Degroat. That puts it at #11,698 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.86 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 116,662 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Degroat 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
2.9K
1 in 116,662
Census rank
#11,698
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.6K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,562 bearers of the surname Degroat in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.86 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 11698th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Degroat, the largest self-reported group is White at 68.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (9.3%) and Black (7.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Degroat
The surname Degroat is believed to have originated in the Netherlands during the 16th century. It is thought to be derived from the Dutch words "de" meaning "the" and "groote" meaning "large" or "great." This suggests that the name may have been given to someone of tall stature or significant importance.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Dutch village of Grootebroek, located in the province of Noord-Holland. In a baptismal record from the year 1585, a child named Gerrit Degroat was listed, indicating the presence of the surname in this region during that time period.
Another early reference to the name appears in a legal document from the city of Amsterdam, dated 1612. This document mentions a merchant named Jan Degroat, who was involved in a trade dispute. This provides evidence that the name was also present in urban areas of the Netherlands during the 17th century.
As Dutch settlers began to migrate to other parts of the world, the surname Degroat traveled with them. One notable figure was Pieter Degroat, a sailor born in Rotterdam in 1678, who joined the Dutch East India Company and is recorded as having visited the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa.
In the 18th century, several Degroats can be found among the early Dutch settlers in New Amsterdam, which later became New York City. One such individual was Hendrik Degroat, born in 1725, who was a farmer and landowner in what is now Brooklyn.
During the American Revolutionary War, a man named Johannes Degroat served as a soldier in the Continental Army. He was born in 1749 in Dutchess County, New York, and fought in several key battles against the British forces.
As the name spread across Europe and North America, it underwent various spelling variations, including DeGroot, DeGroote, and DeGroate. One notable bearer of the name was the Dutch mathematician and philosopher René Descartes, whose original surname was Degroat before it was Latinized to Cartesius.
Other historical figures with the surname Degroat include Cornelius Degroat, a Dutch painter active in the 17th century, and Johanna Degroat, a renowned opera singer from Germany who performed in the late 19th century.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Degroat
Among Census respondents with the surname Degroat, the largest self-reported group is White at 68.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (9.3%) and Black (7.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Degroat 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 Degroat surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White68.6% · 1,758
- Two or more races9.3% · 239
- Black or African American7.9% · 202
- American Indian and Alaska Native7.3% · 186
- Hispanic or Latino6.4% · 165
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 12
Timeline
Historical Census data for Degroat
Degroat 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
#11,739
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,669
+149 bearers (+5.9%)
Per 100,000 0.90
Rank movement Down 275 places
2020
#11,698
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,562
-107 bearers (-4.0%)
Per 100,000 0.86
Rank movement Up 41 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #11,464 | 2,520 | 0.93 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #11,739 | 2,669 | 0.90 | +149 bearers (+5.9%) | Down 275 places |
| 2020 | #11,698 | 2,562 | 0.86 | -107 bearers (-4.0%) | Up 41 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 Degroat 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 | #11,739 | #11,698 | 0.3% |
| Count | 2,669 | 2,562 | -4.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.90 | 0.86 | -4.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Degroat bearers went from 2,669 to 2,562 (-4.0% change). The surname moved up 41 positions in the national ranking, going from #11,739 to #11,698.
FAQ
Degroat surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Degroat?
Name Census estimates that about 2,938 living Americans carry the surname Degroat. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 116,662 residents.
How common is Degroat?
Degroat ranks #11,698 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.86 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 2,562 people with the surname Degroat. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,938), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.86 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.86 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 Degroat.
Has Degroat become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Degroat went from 2,669 recorded bearers to 2,562. That is a decrease of 107 (-4.0%). In the national ranking it rose from #11,739 to #11,698.
What does the Census say about the background of Degroat?
Among Census respondents with the surname Degroat, the largest self-reported group is White at 68.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (9.3%) and Black (7.9%). 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 Degroat in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.6% (1,758 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Degroat appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (68.6%), Two or More Races (9.3%), Black (7.9%). 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 Degroat (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 Degroat mean?
A French occupational surname referring to a large or tall person, derived from the Old French "gros" meaning "large." 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 Degroat (0.86 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 Americans have the surname Degroat?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.