2000
#11,150
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,610
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.97
Rare Last name
Fleshman
An English occupational surname referring to a butcher or one who prepares and sells meat.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,776 Americans carry the last name Fleshman. That puts it at #12,275 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.81 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 123,471 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Fleshman 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
2.8K
1 in 123,471
Census rank
#12,275
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.4K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,421 bearers of the surname Fleshman in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.81 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 12275th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Fleshman, the largest self-reported group is White at 82.0%. The next largest groups are Black (8.6%) and Two or More Races (4.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Fleshman
The surname Fleshman is of English origin, derived from the Old English words "flæsc" meaning flesh and "mann" meaning man. It likely originated as an occupational surname for a butcher or someone involved in the meat trade during the Middle Ages.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Fleshman can be found in the Subsidy Rolls of Bedfordshire in 1309, where a Robert Flessheman is listed. This suggests the name was already established in parts of England by the early 14th century.
In the 16th century, the surname appeared in various spellings such as Flessheman, Fleshman, and Flessman. The variant Fleshman seems to have become more standardized by the 17th century.
A notable early bearer of the name was John Fleshman, a merchant and alderman in the city of Norwich, England, who lived in the late 15th century. Records show he was involved in trade with the Netherlands and other parts of Europe.
During the English Civil War in the mid-17th century, a Captain Richard Fleshman served in the Parliamentarian forces under Oliver Cromwell. He is mentioned in records of the siege of Colchester in 1648.
In the late 18th century, a Samuel Fleshman was a prominent landowner and justice of the peace in Gloucestershire, England. His family's estate was located near the village of Painswick.
Another noteworthy individual was Sir William Fleshman, an English explorer and naturalist who embarked on expeditions to South America and the West Indies in the early 19th century. He was born in 1785 and published several books on his travels and observations of the natural world.
In the United States, one of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Fleshman is Jacob Fleshman, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1754. He later served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Fleshman
Among Census respondents with the surname Fleshman, the largest self-reported group is White at 82.0%. The next largest groups are Black (8.6%) and Two or More Races (4.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Fleshman 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 Fleshman surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.0% · 1,985
- Black or African American8.6% · 208
- Two or more races4.5% · 110
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 89
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 20
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 9
Timeline
Historical Census data for Fleshman
Fleshman 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
#11,977
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,608
-2 bearers (-0.1%)
Per 100,000 0.88
Rank movement Down 827 places
2020
#12,275
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,421
-187 bearers (-7.2%)
Per 100,000 0.81
Rank movement Down 298 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #11,150 | 2,610 | 0.97 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #11,977 | 2,608 | 0.88 | -2 bearers (-0.1%) | Down 827 places |
| 2020 | #12,275 | 2,421 | 0.81 | -187 bearers (-7.2%) | Down 298 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 Fleshman 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 | #11,977 | #12,275 | -2.5% |
| Count | 2,608 | 2,421 | -7.2% |
| Per 100K | 0.88 | 0.81 | -8.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Fleshman bearers went from 2,608 to 2,421 (-7.2% change). The surname moved down 298 positions in the national ranking, going from #11,977 to #12,275.
FAQ
Fleshman surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Fleshman?
Name Census estimates that about 2,776 living Americans carry the surname Fleshman. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 123,471 residents.
How common is Fleshman?
Fleshman ranks #12,275 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.81 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 2,421 people with the surname Fleshman. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,776), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.81 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.81 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 Fleshman.
Has Fleshman become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Fleshman went from 2,608 recorded bearers to 2,421. That is a decrease of 187 (-7.2%). In the national ranking it fell from #11,977 to #12,275.
What does the Census say about the background of Fleshman?
Among Census respondents with the surname Fleshman, the largest self-reported group is White at 82.0%. The next largest groups are Black (8.6%) and Two or More Races (4.5%). 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 Fleshman in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.0% (1,985 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Fleshman appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (82.0%), Black (8.6%), Two or More Races (4.5%). 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 Fleshman (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 Fleshman mean?
An English occupational surname referring to a butcher or one who prepares and sells meat. 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 Fleshman (0.81 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 Fleshman?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.