2000
#8,119
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,762
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.39
Rare Last name
Dutra
Derived from the Portuguese word "outeiro," meaning "hill" or "mound," likely referring to someone who lived near a hill.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 4,290 Americans carry the last name Dutra. That puts it at #8,469 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.25 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 79,896 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Dutra 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
4.3K
1 in 79,896
Census rank
#8,469
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.3
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
3.7K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 3,741 bearers of the surname Dutra in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.25 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 8469th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Dutra, the largest self-reported group is White at 81.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.1%) and Two or More Races (3.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Dutra
The surname Dutra has its origins in Portugal, with records dating back to the 15th century. It is derived from the Portuguese word "dutra," which means "land or territory beyond a river." This suggests that the name may have been given to someone who lived on the other side of a river.
The earliest recorded instance of the Dutra surname can be found in the Portuguese archives from the late 1400s, where it appears in various documents related to land ownership and taxation. Some of the earliest known people with this surname include João Dutra, a landowner in the Algarve region in the late 1400s, and Maria Dutra, a resident of Lisbon in the early 1500s.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Dutra name began to spread beyond Portugal as Portuguese explorers and settlers ventured to other parts of the world. Notable individuals from this period include Pedro Dutra, a navigator who accompanied Vasco da Gama on his voyage to India in 1497, and Fernão Dutra, a settler in Brazil who established a sugar plantation in the state of Pernambuco in the late 1500s.
As the Dutra family expanded, some members migrated to other parts of Europe and the Americas. In the 18th century, a branch of the family settled in the Azores Islands, where the name became associated with the whaling industry. One prominent figure from this period was João Dutra, a whaling captain who sailed out of Ponta Delgada in the late 1700s.
In the 19th century, the Dutra name began to appear in various parts of the United States, particularly in areas with significant Portuguese immigration, such as California and New England. One notable individual from this period was Manuel Dutra, a rancher and landowner in California who was born in the Azores in 1823 and later became a prominent figure in the early development of the state's agriculture industry.
Other notable individuals with the Dutra surname include José Dutra, a Brazilian politician who served as the 31st President of Brazil from 1946 to 1951, and Eugénio Dutra, a Portuguese writer and journalist who was born in Lisbon in 1943 and is known for his works on Portuguese culture and history.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dutra
Among Census respondents with the surname Dutra, the largest self-reported group is White at 81.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.1%) and Two or More Races (3.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Dutra 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 Dutra surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.6% · 3,054
- Hispanic or Latino11.1% · 414
- Two or more races3.9% · 145
- Black or African American1.6% · 59
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 47
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 22
Timeline
Historical Census data for Dutra
Dutra 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
#7,838
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,225
+463 bearers (+12.3%)
Per 100,000 1.43
Rank movement Up 281 places
2020
#8,469
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,741
-484 bearers (-11.5%)
Per 100,000 1.25
Rank movement Down 631 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #8,119 | 3,762 | 1.39 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #7,838 | 4,225 | 1.43 | +463 bearers (+12.3%) | Up 281 places |
| 2020 | #8,469 | 3,741 | 1.25 | -484 bearers (-11.5%) | Down 631 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 Dutra 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 | #7,838 | #8,469 | -8.1% |
| Count | 4,225 | 3,741 | -11.5% |
| Per 100K | 1.43 | 1.25 | -12.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Dutra bearers went from 4,225 to 3,741 (-11.5% change). The surname moved down 631 positions in the national ranking, going from #7,838 to #8,469.
FAQ
Dutra surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Dutra?
Name Census estimates that about 4,290 living Americans carry the surname Dutra. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 79,896 residents.
How common is Dutra?
Dutra ranks #8,469 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.25 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 3,741 people with the surname Dutra. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (4,290), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.25 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.25 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 Dutra.
Has Dutra become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Dutra went from 4,225 recorded bearers to 3,741. That is a decrease of 484 (-11.5%). In the national ranking it fell from #7,838 to #8,469.
What does the Census say about the background of Dutra?
Among Census respondents with the surname Dutra, the largest self-reported group is White at 81.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.1%) and Two or More Races (3.9%). 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 Dutra in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.6% (3,054 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Dutra appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (81.6%), Hispanic (11.1%), Two or More Races (3.9%). 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 Dutra (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 Dutra mean?
Derived from the Portuguese word "outeiro," meaning "hill" or "mound," likely referring to someone who lived near a hill. 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 Dutra (1.25 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 Dutra?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.