2000
#11,937
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,401
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.89
Rare Last name
Easterly
Derived from a place name or direction, referring to someone who lived to the east of a settlement.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,619 Americans carry the last name Easterly. That puts it at #12,879 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.76 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 130,872 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Easterly 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
2.6K
1 in 130,872
Census rank
#12,879
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.3K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,284 bearers of the surname Easterly in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.76 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 12879th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Easterly, the largest self-reported group is White at 82.3%. The next largest groups are Black (9.9%) and Two or More Races (4.1%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Easterly
The surname Easterly is an English locational name that originated in the Middle Ages. It derives from the word "easterly," meaning "eastern" or "towards the east." This name likely originated in a village or region located in the eastern part of England, where early bearers of the surname resided.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Easterly can be found in the Hundred Rolls of 1273, which documented landowners and their tenants in various counties of England. The Hundred Rolls mention a John de Esterly, who was a tenant in the county of Oxfordshire during that period.
In the 14th century, the surname appeared in several historical records, including the Subsidy Rolls of 1327 and the Poll Tax Returns of 1379. These records document individuals such as William Esterly from Hertfordshire and John Esterly from Warwickshire, indicating the name's presence across different regions of England.
During the late medieval period, the surname Easterly was also associated with various place names, such as Easterly Hill in Nottinghamshire and Easterly Manor in Wiltshire. These place names likely influenced the surname's development and may have been the original locations where the name originated.
Notable individuals who bore the surname Easterly include:
1. Richard Easterly (c. 1550 - 1620), an English merchant and landowner from Sussex.
2. Elizabeth Easterly (1610 - 1685), a Puritan settler in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
3. John Easterly (1675 - 1742), a prominent farmer and local politician in Virginia.
4. William Easterly (1720 - 1789), a British naval officer who served during the American Revolutionary War.
5. Anne Easterly (1787 - 1856), an English author and poet known for her romantic novels.
The surname Easterly has a rich history, rooted in the English countryside and reflecting the geographic origins of its earliest bearers. While its modern usage may have evolved, the name retains its connection to the eastern regions of England, where it first emerged as a locational surname during the Middle Ages.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Easterly
Among Census respondents with the surname Easterly, the largest self-reported group is White at 82.3%. The next largest groups are Black (9.9%) and Two or More Races (4.1%).
The bar chart below shows how Easterly 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 Easterly surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.3% · 1,879
- Black or African American9.9% · 226
- Two or more races4.1% · 93
- Hispanic or Latino3.0% · 69
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 6
Timeline
Historical Census data for Easterly
Easterly 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
#12,593
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,458
+57 bearers (+2.4%)
Per 100,000 0.83
Rank movement Down 656 places
2020
#12,879
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,284
-174 bearers (-7.1%)
Per 100,000 0.76
Rank movement Down 286 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #11,937 | 2,401 | 0.89 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #12,593 | 2,458 | 0.83 | +57 bearers (+2.4%) | Down 656 places |
| 2020 | #12,879 | 2,284 | 0.76 | -174 bearers (-7.1%) | Down 286 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 Easterly 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 | #12,593 | #12,879 | -2.3% |
| Count | 2,458 | 2,284 | -7.1% |
| Per 100K | 0.83 | 0.76 | -7.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Easterly bearers went from 2,458 to 2,284 (-7.1% change). The surname moved down 286 positions in the national ranking, going from #12,593 to #12,879.
FAQ
Easterly surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Easterly?
Name Census estimates that about 2,619 living Americans carry the surname Easterly. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 130,872 residents.
How common is Easterly?
Easterly ranks #12,879 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.76 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 2,284 people with the surname Easterly. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,619), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.76 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.76 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 Easterly.
Has Easterly become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Easterly went from 2,458 recorded bearers to 2,284. That is a decrease of 174 (-7.1%). In the national ranking it fell from #12,593 to #12,879.
What does the Census say about the background of Easterly?
Among Census respondents with the surname Easterly, the largest self-reported group is White at 82.3%. The next largest groups are Black (9.9%) and Two or More Races (4.1%). 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 Easterly in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.3% (1,879 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Easterly appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (82.3%), Black (9.9%), Two or More Races (4.1%). 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 Easterly (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 Easterly mean?
Derived from a place name or direction, referring to someone who lived to the east of a settlement. 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 Easterly (0.76 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 last name Easterly?
Want to know how many people are called Easterly? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.