2000
#11,449
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,524
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.94
Rare Last name
Durgin
An English occupational surname for someone who made or sold wooden tubs and casks, derived from "durgen" meaning "small tub."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,710 Americans carry the last name Durgin. That puts it at #12,523 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.79 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 126,478 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Durgin 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
2.7K
1 in 126,478
Census rank
#12,523
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.4K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,363 bearers of the surname Durgin in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.79 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 12523rd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Durgin, the largest self-reported group is White at 81.0%. The next largest groups are Black (9.2%) and Hispanic (5.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Durgin
The surname Durgin has its origins in the Normandy region of France. It derives from the Old French word "durguein" or "dorguin," which means a person with dark complexion or reddish-brown hair. The name can be traced back to the 11th century, around the time of the Norman Conquest of England.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Durgin can be found in the Domesday Book, a manuscript compiled in 1086 by William the Conqueror. The entry refers to a landowner named Radulfus Dorguin, who held lands in Lincolnshire, England.
In the 13th century, the name appeared in various forms, including Dorguin, Dorgwyn, and Dorgwyne, in medieval records and charters from Normandy and England. The spelling "Durgin" became more prevalent in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Notable individuals with the surname Durgin include Sir John Durgin, a English knight who fought in the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. Another early bearer of the name was William Durgin, a merchant and ship owner from Bristol, England, who lived in the late 16th century.
In the 17th century, several members of the Durgin family emigrated from England to the American colonies. One of the earliest recorded Durgins in America was Thomas Durgin, who was born in 1620 and settled in Ipswich, Massachusetts.
Other notable Durgins throughout history include:
1. Jonathan Durgin (1677-1746), a founding settler of Hampton, New Hampshire.
2. Ebenezer Durgin (1722-1809), a soldier in the American Revolutionary War from Nottingham, New Hampshire.
3. Martha Durgin (1763-1846), a pioneer settler in Tennessee and one of the first female landowners in the state.
4. John Durgin (1821-1895), a prominent businessman and politician in Wisconsin, who served as the 12th Governor of Wisconsin from 1869 to 1872.
5. George Durgin (1850-1924), a renowned artist and painter from New Hampshire, known for his landscape and marine paintings.
The Durgin surname has been most prevalent in New England and parts of the Northeastern United States, where many of the early Durgin settlers established roots.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Durgin
Among Census respondents with the surname Durgin, the largest self-reported group is White at 81.0%. The next largest groups are Black (9.2%) and Hispanic (5.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Durgin 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 Durgin surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.0% · 1,914
- Black or African American9.2% · 218
- Hispanic or Latino5.2% · 122
- Two or more races3.3% · 79
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 14
Timeline
Historical Census data for Durgin
Durgin 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
#12,613
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,454
-70 bearers (-2.8%)
Per 100,000 0.83
Rank movement Down 1,164 places
2020
#12,523
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,363
-91 bearers (-3.7%)
Per 100,000 0.79
Rank movement Up 90 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #11,449 | 2,524 | 0.94 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #12,613 | 2,454 | 0.83 | -70 bearers (-2.8%) | Down 1,164 places |
| 2020 | #12,523 | 2,363 | 0.79 | -91 bearers (-3.7%) | Up 90 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 Durgin 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 | #12,613 | #12,523 | 0.7% |
| Count | 2,454 | 2,363 | -3.7% |
| Per 100K | 0.83 | 0.79 | -4.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Durgin bearers went from 2,454 to 2,363 (-3.7% change). The surname moved up 90 positions in the national ranking, going from #12,613 to #12,523.
FAQ
Durgin surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Durgin?
Name Census estimates that about 2,710 living Americans carry the surname Durgin. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 126,478 residents.
How common is Durgin?
Durgin ranks #12,523 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.79 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 2,363 people with the surname Durgin. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,710), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.79 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.79 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 Durgin.
Has Durgin become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Durgin went from 2,454 recorded bearers to 2,363. That is a decrease of 91 (-3.7%). In the national ranking it rose from #12,613 to #12,523.
What does the Census say about the background of Durgin?
Among Census respondents with the surname Durgin, the largest self-reported group is White at 81.0%. The next largest groups are Black (9.2%) and Hispanic (5.2%). 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 Durgin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.0% (1,914 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Durgin appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (81.0%), Black (9.2%), Hispanic (5.2%). 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 Durgin (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 Durgin mean?
An English occupational surname for someone who made or sold wooden tubs and casks, derived from "durgen" meaning "small tub." 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 Durgin (0.79 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 are called Durgin?
Want to know how many people have the last name Durgin? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.