Find out how popular the last name Dufour is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Dufour.

Dufour, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Dufour surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Dufour in America

Dufour is the 7191st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Dufour surname appeared 4,647 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Dufour.

We can also compare 2010 data for Dufour to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Dufour

The surname Dufour originated in France during the medieval period. It is derived from the Old French words "du" meaning "of" and "four" meaning "oven". The name likely referred to someone who worked with an oven, such as a baker or miller.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Dufour appears in the Domesday Book of 1086, which was a comprehensive survey of land ownership in England commissioned by William the Conqueror. This suggests that the name may have been introduced to England by French settlers during the Norman Conquest in the 11th century.

In the 13th century, a notable figure named Guillaume Dufour was a prominent merchant and landowner in the region of Burgundy, France. Another early record dates back to the 14th century, when a man named Jean Dufour was a master baker in the city of Paris.

During the Renaissance period, a French explorer and navigator named Samuel Dufour (1512-1587) gained recognition for his expeditions to the New World and his detailed maps of the Atlantic coast of North America.

In the 18th century, a Swiss mathematician and cartographer named Guillaume-Henri Dufour (1787-1875) made significant contributions to surveying and map-making techniques, and his work was instrumental in the development of modern cartography.

Another notable individual with the surname Dufour was the French artist and illustrator Raoul Dufour (1836-1912), who is best known for his intricate etchings and engravings depicting scenes from French literature and history.

Throughout the centuries, the Dufour name has been associated with various locations and place names in France, such as Dufour-sur-Meuse, Dufour-en-Vexin, and Dufour-sur-Loire, which may have influenced the spelling and pronunciation of the surname in different regions.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Dufour

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Dufour.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Dufour was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Dufour has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Dufour was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Dufour, please contact us.

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