2000
#4,227
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,761
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.88
Rare Last name
Easterling
A surname denoting someone from the east or someone who arrived in a place around the Easter season.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 8,957 Americans carry the last name Easterling. That puts it at #4,399 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.61 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 38,267 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Easterling 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 Easterling with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
9.0K
1 in 38,267
Census rank
#4,399
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
7.8K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 7,811 bearers of the surname Easterling in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.61 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 4399th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Easterling, the largest self-reported group is White at 64.8%. The next largest groups are Black (27.3%) and Two or More Races (4.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Easterling
The surname Easterling is of English origin and dates back to the medieval period. It derives from the Old English words "east" and "linga", meaning "easterner" or "from the east". This suggests that the name was originally given to someone who hailed from the eastern parts of England or had migrated from the east.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Easterling appears in the Domesday Book of 1086, which was a comprehensive survey of landowners and tenants in England commissioned by William the Conqueror. The name is listed as "Esterlinge", referring to an individual or family residing in the eastern counties of England.
The Easterling name can also be traced back to the 13th century in the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire, where it appears as "Esterlinge". This record highlights the presence of the name in the county of Oxfordshire during that time period.
In the 14th century, the name is found in various historical documents, including the Poll Tax Returns of Yorkshire, where it is spelled "Esterlynge". This suggests that the name had spread to different regions of England by that time.
One notable individual with the surname Easterling was Sir John Easterling (c. 1400-1470), a wealthy merchant and member of the Worshipful Company of Mercers in London. He was born in the city of Norwich, which further reinforces the eastern origins of the name.
Another prominent figure was Thomas Easterling (1538-1612), an English clergyman and theologian who served as the Bishop of Bristol from 1585 until his death. He was a renowned scholar and author, contributing to the translation of the King James Bible.
In the 17th century, the name is recorded in the parish registers of Cambridgeshire, where it appears as "Easterlinge". This variation in spelling was common during that era due to the lack of standardized orthography.
The Easterling surname also has a connection to the Hanseatic League, a powerful commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Northern Europe during the Late Middle Ages. The term "Easterling" was used to refer to the merchants and traders from the eastern regions of the league, particularly those from the Baltic regions.
Other notable individuals with the surname Easterling include William Easterling (1713-1786), an English philosopher and author, and Richard Easterling (1820-1895), a British explorer and naturalist who traveled extensively in South America and the Pacific islands.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Easterling
Among Census respondents with the surname Easterling, the largest self-reported group is White at 64.8%. The next largest groups are Black (27.3%) and Two or More Races (4.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Easterling 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 Easterling surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White64.8% · 5,062
- Black or African American27.3% · 2,132
- Two or more races4.6% · 361
- Hispanic or Latino2.2% · 168
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 50
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 38
Timeline
Historical Census data for Easterling
Easterling 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
#4,201
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 8,433
+672 bearers (+8.7%)
Per 100,000 2.86
Rank movement Up 26 places
2020
#4,399
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,811
-622 bearers (-7.4%)
Per 100,000 2.61
Rank movement Down 198 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #4,227 | 7,761 | 2.88 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #4,201 | 8,433 | 2.86 | +672 bearers (+8.7%) | Up 26 places |
| 2020 | #4,399 | 7,811 | 2.61 | -622 bearers (-7.4%) | Down 198 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 Easterling 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 | #4,201 | #4,399 | -4.7% |
| Count | 8,433 | 7,811 | -7.4% |
| Per 100K | 2.86 | 2.61 | -8.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Easterling bearers went from 8,433 to 7,811 (-7.4% change). The surname moved down 198 positions in the national ranking, going from #4,201 to #4,399.
FAQ
Easterling surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Easterling?
Name Census estimates that about 8,957 living Americans carry the surname Easterling. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 38,267 residents.
How common is Easterling?
Easterling ranks #4,399 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.61 per 100,000 residents, which is about 3 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 7,811 people with the surname Easterling. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (8,957), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2.61 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.61 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 3 of them to have the surname Easterling.
Has Easterling become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Easterling went from 8,433 recorded bearers to 7,811. That is a decrease of 622 (-7.4%). In the national ranking it fell from #4,201 to #4,399.
What does the Census say about the background of Easterling?
Among Census respondents with the surname Easterling, the largest self-reported group is White at 64.8%. The next largest groups are Black (27.3%) and Two or More Races (4.6%). 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 Easterling in the 2020 Census, accounting for 64.8% (5,062 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Easterling appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (64.8%), Black (27.3%), Two or More Races (4.6%). 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 Easterling (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 Easterling mean?
A surname denoting someone from the east or someone who arrived in a place around the Easter season. 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 Easterling (2.61 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 have the surname Easterling?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.