2000
#10,289
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,870
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.06
Rare Last name
Dustin
An English occupational surname for someone who made a coarse, linen cloth called fustian.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,965 Americans carry the last name Dustin. That puts it at #11,617 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.87 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 115,600 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Dustin 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.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Dustin with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
3.0K
1 in 115,600
Census rank
#11,617
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.6K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,586 bearers of the surname Dustin in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.87 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 11617th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Dustin, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.8%) and Two or More Races (3.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Dustin
The surname Dustin has its origins in England, where it first emerged in the 13th century. It is believed to be derived from the Old English word "dusting," which referred to a person who worked as a duster or cleaner of homes and buildings. The name may also have been a locational surname, referring to someone who lived near a dusty or chalky area.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Dustin can be found in the Hundred Rolls of 1273, which list a Robert Dustin in Oxfordshire. The Subsidy Rolls of 1327 also mention a John Dustyn in Somerset. These early references suggest that the name was well-established in various parts of England by the late medieval period.
In the 16th century, the name Dustin appeared in various forms, such as Dustyn,Dustyne, and Duston. Some historians believe that the latter spelling may have been influenced by the village of Duston near Northampton, which could have been the original place of origin for some Dustin families.
Notable historical figures with the surname Dustin include William Dustin (c. 1619-1694), an English colonist who settled in Haverhill, Massachusetts, and whose family was famously taken captive by Native Americans during King William's War in 1697. Another early American bearer of the name was Thomas Dustin (c. 1654-1694), who fought in King Philip's War and later became a prominent landowner in Haverhill.
In later centuries, several Dustins made their mark in various fields. John Dustin (1738-1820) was a prominent American Revolutionary War soldier from New Hampshire. William Creswell Dustin (1832-1895) was a successful lawyer and politician in Ohio, serving as the Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives. Arthur Dustin (1876-1941) was a British actor and playwright known for his work on the London stage in the early 20th century.
Other notable individuals with the surname Dustin include Sir Alfred Dustin (1892-1970), a British civil servant and diplomat who served as the Governor of British Guiana (now Guyana) from 1954 to 1959, and Michael Dustin (born 1959), an American immunologist and professor at Harvard University.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dustin
Among Census respondents with the surname Dustin, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.8%) and Two or More Races (3.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Dustin 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 Dustin surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.8% · 2,349
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 98
- Two or more races3.2% · 84
- Black or African American0.9% · 22
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 19
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 14
Timeline
Historical Census data for Dustin
Dustin 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
#9,961
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,240
+370 bearers (+12.9%)
Per 100,000 1.10
Rank movement Up 328 places
2020
#11,617
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,586
-654 bearers (-20.2%)
Per 100,000 0.87
Rank movement Down 1,656 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #10,289 | 2,870 | 1.06 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #9,961 | 3,240 | 1.10 | +370 bearers (+12.9%) | Up 328 places |
| 2020 | #11,617 | 2,586 | 0.87 | -654 bearers (-20.2%) | Down 1,656 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 Dustin 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 | #9,961 | #11,617 | -16.6% |
| Count | 3,240 | 2,586 | -20.2% |
| Per 100K | 1.10 | 0.87 | -21.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Dustin bearers went from 3,240 to 2,586 (-20.2% change). The surname moved down 1,656 positions in the national ranking, going from #9,961 to #11,617.
FAQ
Dustin surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Dustin?
Name Census estimates that about 2,965 living Americans carry the surname Dustin. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 115,600 residents.
How common is Dustin?
Dustin ranks #11,617 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.87 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 2,586 people with the surname Dustin. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,965), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.87 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.87 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 Dustin.
Has Dustin become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Dustin went from 3,240 recorded bearers to 2,586. That is a decrease of 654 (-20.2%). In the national ranking it fell from #9,961 to #11,617.
What does the Census say about the background of Dustin?
Among Census respondents with the surname Dustin, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.8%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Dustin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.8% (2,349 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Dustin appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (90.8%), Hispanic (3.8%), Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Dustin (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 Dustin mean?
An English occupational surname for someone who made a coarse, linen cloth called fustian. 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 Dustin (0.87 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 Dustin?
See how common the surname Dustin is on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.