2000
#11,146
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,611
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.97
Rare Last name
Guilford
Derived from a place name meaning "golden ford" in Old English, referring to a ford crossing a river.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,860 Americans carry the last name Guilford. That puts it at #11,977 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.83 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 119,844 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Guilford 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 Guilford with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
2.9K
1 in 119,844
Census rank
#11,977
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.5K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,494 bearers of the surname Guilford in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.83 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 11977th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Guilford, the largest self-reported group is White at 56.4%. The next largest groups are Black (35.3%) and Two or More Races (4.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Guilford
The surname Guilford is of English origin, derived from the place name Guildford, which is a town in Surrey, England. The name Guildford is thought to have originated from the Old English words "gylde" meaning "guild" and "ford" meaning "a shallow place where a river can be crossed."
The earliest recorded spelling of the name Guilford appears in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it is listed as "Gildeforde." This indicates that the name has been in use since at least the late 11th century.
During the Middle Ages, the town of Guildford was an important center for wool trade and cloth manufacturing. It is likely that some individuals who lived or worked in Guildford adopted the place name as their surname.
One of the earliest recorded bearers of the surname Guilford was William de Guilford, who was mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire in 1198.
In the 16th century, Sir Henry Guilford (1489-1532) was a prominent figure in the court of King Henry VIII. He served as Controller of the Royal Household and was involved in the dissolution of the monasteries.
Another notable bearer of the name was Sir Edward Guilford (1568-1618), an English politician and Member of Parliament during the reign of King James I.
Francis North, 6th Baron Guilford (1637-1685), was an English lawyer and judge who served as Lord Keeper of the Great Seal during the reign of King Charles II.
In the late 18th century, John Guilford (1766-1828) was an English architect and surveyor who designed several buildings in London, including the Royal Opera House.
The surname Guilford has also been associated with places named after the town of Guildford, such as Guilford County in North Carolina, United States, and Guilford, Connecticut.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Guilford
Among Census respondents with the surname Guilford, the largest self-reported group is White at 56.4%. The next largest groups are Black (35.3%) and Two or More Races (4.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Guilford 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 Guilford surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White56.4% · 1,406
- Black or African American35.3% · 880
- Two or more races4.2% · 104
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 80
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 8
Timeline
Historical Census data for Guilford
Guilford 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
#11,365
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,776
+165 bearers (+6.3%)
Per 100,000 0.94
Rank movement Down 219 places
2020
#11,977
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,494
-282 bearers (-10.2%)
Per 100,000 0.83
Rank movement Down 612 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #11,146 | 2,611 | 0.97 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #11,365 | 2,776 | 0.94 | +165 bearers (+6.3%) | Down 219 places |
| 2020 | #11,977 | 2,494 | 0.83 | -282 bearers (-10.2%) | Down 612 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 Guilford 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 | #11,365 | #11,977 | -5.4% |
| Count | 2,776 | 2,494 | -10.2% |
| Per 100K | 0.94 | 0.83 | -11.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Guilford bearers went from 2,776 to 2,494 (-10.2% change). The surname moved down 612 positions in the national ranking, going from #11,365 to #11,977.
FAQ
Guilford surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Guilford?
Name Census estimates that about 2,860 living Americans carry the surname Guilford. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 119,844 residents.
How common is Guilford?
Guilford ranks #11,977 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.83 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 2,494 people with the surname Guilford. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,860), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.83 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.83 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 Guilford.
Has Guilford become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Guilford went from 2,776 recorded bearers to 2,494. That is a decrease of 282 (-10.2%). In the national ranking it fell from #11,365 to #11,977.
What does the Census say about the background of Guilford?
Among Census respondents with the surname Guilford, the largest self-reported group is White at 56.4%. The next largest groups are Black (35.3%) and Two or More Races (4.2%). 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 Guilford in the 2020 Census, accounting for 56.4% (1,406 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Guilford appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (56.4%), Black (35.3%), Two or More Races (4.2%). 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 Guilford (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 Guilford mean?
Derived from a place name meaning "golden ford" in Old English, referring to a ford crossing a river. 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 Guilford (0.83 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 Guilford?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.