2000
#100,194
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 167
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.06
Very Rare Last name
Elburn
From a place called Elburne or Elbourne, derived from Old English words meaning meadow and brook.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 139 Americans carry the last name Elburn. That puts it at #141,309 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,465,859 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Elburn 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
139
1 in 2,465,859
Census rank
#141,309
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
121
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 121 bearers of the surname Elburn in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 141309th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Elburn, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.1%) and Black (0.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Elburn
The surname ELBURN is of English origin and is thought to have emerged in the medieval period, likely derived from a place name. One possible source is the village of Elburne or Elbourn in Lincolnshire, which dates back to the Domesday Book of 1086 when it was recorded as "Eleburne". This place name may have meant "the spring or stream of a man named Ella" from the Old English personal name Ella combined with "burna", meaning a stream or spring.
Another potential origin is that ELBURN is a variant spelling of the surname Elboren, which was found in Yorkshire in the 13th century. This name may have derived from the Old Norse "ellri" meaning elder tree and "byr" meaning a farmstead or settlement, suggesting it referred to a place where elder trees grew.
Early examples of the ELBURN surname can be traced back to the 14th century. A John de Elburn was recorded in the Subsidy Rolls of Lincolnshire in 1349. In the 16th century, a Thomas Elburn was listed in the Parish Registers of Burrough Green, Cambridgeshire in 1562.
Notable bearers of the ELBURN surname include Sir John Elburn (1552-1629), an English politician who served as Member of Parliament for Southwark in 1624. William Elburn (1680-1757) was an English lawyer and legal writer who authored several works on the law of evidence.
In the 18th century, Edward Elburn (1738-1801) was a British Army officer who served in the American Revolutionary War. He later became Lieutenant Governor of Carrickfergus in Ireland. Mary Elburn (1776-1843) was a British writer and novelist known for her work "The Discipline of Life" published in 1814.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the ELBURN surname in America was John Elburn, who arrived in Virginia in 1635. Later, Samuel Elburn (1682-1745) was an early settler of Chester County, Pennsylvania in the early 18th century.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Elburn
Among Census respondents with the surname Elburn, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.1%) and Black (0.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Elburn 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 Elburn surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.4% · 113
- Two or more races4.1% · 5
- Black or African American0.8% · 1
- Hispanic or Latino0.8% · 1
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Elburn
Elburn 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
#105,079
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 170
+3 bearers (+1.8%)
Per 100,000 0.06
Rank movement Down 4,885 places
2020
#141,309
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 121
-49 bearers (-28.8%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 36,230 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #100,194 | 167 | 0.06 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #105,079 | 170 | 0.06 | +3 bearers (+1.8%) | Down 4,885 places |
| 2020 | #141,309 | 121 | 0.04 | -49 bearers (-28.8%) | Down 36,230 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 Elburn 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 | #105,079 | #141,309 | -34.5% |
| Count | 170 | 121 | -28.8% |
| Per 100K | 0.06 | 0.04 | -32.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Elburn bearers went from 170 to 121 (-28.8% change). The surname moved down 36,230 positions in the national ranking, going from #105,079 to #141,309.
FAQ
Elburn surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Elburn?
Name Census estimates that about 139 living Americans carry the surname Elburn. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,465,859 residents.
How common is Elburn?
Elburn ranks #141,309 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 121 people with the surname Elburn. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (139), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Elburn.
Has Elburn become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Elburn went from 170 recorded bearers to 121. That is a decrease of 49 (-28.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #105,079 to #141,309.
What does the Census say about the background of Elburn?
Among Census respondents with the surname Elburn, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.1%) and Black (0.8%). 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 Elburn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.4% (113 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Elburn appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.4%), Two or More Races (4.1%), Black (0.8%). 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 Elburn (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 Elburn mean?
From a place called Elburne or Elbourne, derived from Old English words meaning meadow and brook. 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 Elburn (0.04 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 share the surname Elburn?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.