2000
#4,352
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,543
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.80
Rare Last name
Fortier
A French occupational surname referring to a person who builds or maintains forts or fortifications.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 8,108 Americans carry the last name Fortier. That puts it at #4,842 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.37 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 42,274 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Fortier 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
8.1K
1 in 42,274
Census rank
#4,842
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.4
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
7.1K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 7,071 bearers of the surname Fortier in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.37 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 4842nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Fortier, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.2%) and Two or More Races (2.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Fortier
The surname Fortier originated in France and is derived from the Old French word "fort," meaning strong or fortified. It was likely an occupational name given to someone who lived near a fortress or worked as a guard or soldier in a fortified place.
Fortier is a common surname in the French-speaking regions of Canada, particularly in Quebec, where many French settlers arrived in the 17th and 18th centuries. The name can be traced back to the early days of French colonization in North America.
In France, the surname Fortier has been recorded as early as the 12th century. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Hugues Fortier, a knight who lived in Normandy in the late 12th century.
The Domesday Book, a survey of landowners in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086, does not contain any entries for the surname Fortier, indicating that it was likely not present in England at that time.
Notable individuals with the surname Fortier include:
1. Jean Fortier (c. 1550 - c. 1620), a French colonist who was one of the first settlers in Acadia (present-day Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, Canada).
2. Claude Fortier (1629 - 1708), a French-Canadian farmer and landowner in Quebec.
3. Théodore Fortier (1828 - 1899), a French-American writer and educator who founded the first French-language newspaper in Louisiana.
4. Émile Fortier (1836 - 1901), a Canadian politician and lawyer who served as a member of the House of Commons of Canada.
5. Alcée Fortier (1856 - 1914), a French-American scholar and professor of Romance languages at Tulane University.
The surname Fortier has also been associated with various place names in France, such as Fortier-la-Gaillarde, a commune in the Yonne department, and Fortier-d'Auvergne, a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department. These place names may have influenced the spread and variations of the surname.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Fortier
Among Census respondents with the surname Fortier, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.2%) and Two or More Races (2.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Fortier 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 Fortier surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.6% · 6,268
- Hispanic or Latino5.2% · 365
- Two or more races2.9% · 203
- Black or African American2.2% · 153
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 50
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 32
Timeline
Historical Census data for Fortier
Fortier 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
#4,649
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,634
+91 bearers (+1.2%)
Per 100,000 2.59
Rank movement Down 297 places
2020
#4,842
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,071
-563 bearers (-7.4%)
Per 100,000 2.37
Rank movement Down 193 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #4,352 | 7,543 | 2.80 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #4,649 | 7,634 | 2.59 | +91 bearers (+1.2%) | Down 297 places |
| 2020 | #4,842 | 7,071 | 2.37 | -563 bearers (-7.4%) | Down 193 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 Fortier 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 | #4,649 | #4,842 | -4.2% |
| Count | 7,634 | 7,071 | -7.4% |
| Per 100K | 2.59 | 2.37 | -8.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Fortier bearers went from 7,634 to 7,071 (-7.4% change). The surname moved down 193 positions in the national ranking, going from #4,649 to #4,842.
FAQ
Fortier surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Fortier?
Name Census estimates that about 8,108 living Americans carry the surname Fortier. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 42,274 residents.
How common is Fortier?
Fortier ranks #4,842 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.37 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 7,071 people with the surname Fortier. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (8,108), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2.37 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.37 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Fortier.
Has Fortier become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Fortier went from 7,634 recorded bearers to 7,071. That is a decrease of 563 (-7.4%). In the national ranking it fell from #4,649 to #4,842.
What does the Census say about the background of Fortier?
Among Census respondents with the surname Fortier, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.2%) and Two or More Races (2.9%). 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 Fortier in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.6% (6,268 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Fortier appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (88.6%), Hispanic (5.2%), Two or More Races (2.9%). 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 Fortier (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 Fortier mean?
A French occupational surname referring to a person who builds or maintains forts or fortifications. 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 Fortier (2.37 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 Fortier?
If you just want to know how common the surname Fortier is, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.