2000
#11,433
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,528
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.94
Rare Last name
Feather
An English occupational surname referring to a person who worked with feathers, such as a feather dresser or dealer.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,910 Americans carry the last name Feather. That puts it at #11,799 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.85 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 117,785 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Feather 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 Feather with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
2.9K
1 in 117,785
Census rank
#11,799
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.5K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,538 bearers of the surname Feather in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.85 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 11799th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Feather, the largest self-reported group is White at 81.4%. The next largest groups are American Indian/Alaska Native (9.8%) and Two or More Races (5.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Feather
The surname FEATHER is of English origin, deriving from the Old English word 'fethere', meaning a feather or plumage. This name likely originated as a descriptive nickname for someone who worked with feathers, such as a fletcher or arrow-maker.
The earliest recorded instances of the FEATHER surname date back to the late 12th century in counties like Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. One of the first documented examples is found in the Pipe Rolls of Lincolnshire from 1195, which mentions a Robert Fether.
In the 13th century, the name appeared in various forms such as Fether, Fethir, and Fedyr. The Hundred Rolls of 1273 record a William Fether in Oxfordshire, while the Yorkshire Poll Tax of 1379 lists a Johannes Fether.
The FEATHER surname is also linked to certain place names, particularly in areas where the family may have resided. For instance, the Featherstone area of West Yorkshire likely derived its name from the Old English 'fetheres stan', meaning 'feather stone'.
Notable historical figures with the FEATHER surname include Richard Feather, a 15th-century English composer and organist who served at Wells Cathedral. John Feather, born around 1540, was a successful merchant and benefactor in the city of Bristol.
In the 17th century, John Feather was a prominent Puritan minister who served as the rector of Banbury in Oxfordshire. Another notable bearer was Sir John Feather, a 17th-century English judge and Member of Parliament.
The FEATHER surname continued to be well-represented throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, with individuals like Thomas Feather, a renowned 18th-century clockmaker from Yorkshire, and William Feather, a 19th-century industrialist and philanthropist from Lancashire.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Feather
Among Census respondents with the surname Feather, the largest self-reported group is White at 81.4%. The next largest groups are American Indian/Alaska Native (9.8%) and Two or More Races (5.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Feather 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 Feather surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.4% · 2,066
- American Indian and Alaska Native9.8% · 248
- Two or more races5.0% · 127
- Hispanic or Latino2.2% · 55
- Black or African American1.1% · 27
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 15
Timeline
Historical Census data for Feather
Feather 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
#11,719
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,674
+146 bearers (+5.8%)
Per 100,000 0.91
Rank movement Down 286 places
2020
#11,799
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,538
-136 bearers (-5.1%)
Per 100,000 0.85
Rank movement Down 80 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #11,433 | 2,528 | 0.94 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #11,719 | 2,674 | 0.91 | +146 bearers (+5.8%) | Down 286 places |
| 2020 | #11,799 | 2,538 | 0.85 | -136 bearers (-5.1%) | Down 80 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 Feather 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 | #11,719 | #11,799 | -0.7% |
| Count | 2,674 | 2,538 | -5.1% |
| Per 100K | 0.91 | 0.85 | -6.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Feather bearers went from 2,674 to 2,538 (-5.1% change). The surname moved down 80 positions in the national ranking, going from #11,719 to #11,799.
FAQ
Feather surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Feather?
Name Census estimates that about 2,910 living Americans carry the surname Feather. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 117,785 residents.
How common is Feather?
Feather ranks #11,799 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.85 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 2,538 people with the surname Feather. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,910), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.85 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.85 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 Feather.
Has Feather become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Feather went from 2,674 recorded bearers to 2,538. That is a decrease of 136 (-5.1%). In the national ranking it fell from #11,719 to #11,799.
What does the Census say about the background of Feather?
Among Census respondents with the surname Feather, the largest self-reported group is White at 81.4%. The next largest groups are American Indian/Alaska Native (9.8%) and Two or More Races (5.0%). 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 Feather in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.4% (2,066 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Feather appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (81.4%), American Indian/Alaska Native (9.8%), Two or More Races (5.0%). 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 Feather (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 Feather mean?
An English occupational surname referring to a person who worked with feathers, such as a feather dresser or dealer. 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 Feather (0.85 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 Feather?
See how many Americans have the surname Feather on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.