2000
#9,174
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,268
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.21
Rare Last name
Hartline
An English occupational surname referring to someone who lived on a boundary line or worked as a tender of deer.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,571 Americans carry the last name Hartline. That puts it at #9,895 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 95,983 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Hartline 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
3.6K
1 in 95,983
Census rank
#9,895
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
3.1K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 3,114 bearers of the surname Hartline in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 9895th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Hartline, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.0%) and Hispanic (3.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Hartline
The surname Hartline originated in England and dates back to the 13th century. It is believed to have derived from an Old English word "heorot," meaning "hart" or "stag," combined with the word "lind" or "line," signifying a meadow or clearing. This suggests that the name may have initially referred to a person or family residing near a meadow frequented by deer.
Hartline was first recorded in the Hundredorum Rolls of Oxfordshire in 1273, spelled as "Hertlyne." This early record indicates that the name was present in the English county of Oxfordshire during the medieval period. Over time, variations in spelling emerged, including Hartlin, Hartlyne, and Hartleyne.
One of the earliest known references to the Hartline surname can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire from 1301, where a certain Robert Hertlyne is mentioned. This document provides evidence of the name's presence in the western English county of Gloucestershire during the early 14th century.
In the 16th century, the surname Hartline appeared in the Parish Records of St. Mary's Church in Prestbury, Gloucestershire. The baptismal record of John Hartlyne, son of William Hartlyne, was documented in 1586. This entry suggests that the Hartline family had established roots in the Prestbury area by the late 16th century.
Notable individuals with the Hartline surname include:
1. John Hartline (c. 1650-1711), an English Quaker who emigrated to Pennsylvania in the late 17th century and became a prominent landowner and community leader in Bucks County.
2. Haldan Keffer Hartline (1903-1983), an American physiologist who received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1967 for his discoveries concerning the primary physiological and chemical visual processes in the eye.
3. Willard Van Orman Quine (1908-2000), an American philosopher and logician whose mother's maiden name was Hartline. Quine made significant contributions to the fields of mathematical logic, set theory, and the philosophy of language.
4. William Hartline (1856-1933), an American politician who served as a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing the 10th congressional district of Pennsylvania from 1901 to 1903.
5. Robert Hartline (born 1947), an American professional football player who played as a wide receiver for the Miami Dolphins in the National Football League (NFL) from 1970 to 1976, winning two Super Bowl championships.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hartline
Among Census respondents with the surname Hartline, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.0%) and Hispanic (3.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Hartline 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 Hartline surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.4% · 2,845
- Two or more races4.0% · 125
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 99
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 20
- Black or African American0.4% · 14
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 11
Timeline
Historical Census data for Hartline
Hartline 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
#9,050
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,610
+342 bearers (+10.5%)
Per 100,000 1.22
Rank movement Up 124 places
2020
#9,895
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,114
-496 bearers (-13.7%)
Per 100,000 1.04
Rank movement Down 845 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #9,174 | 3,268 | 1.21 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #9,050 | 3,610 | 1.22 | +342 bearers (+10.5%) | Up 124 places |
| 2020 | #9,895 | 3,114 | 1.04 | -496 bearers (-13.7%) | Down 845 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 Hartline 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 | #9,050 | #9,895 | -9.3% |
| Count | 3,610 | 3,114 | -13.7% |
| Per 100K | 1.22 | 1.04 | -14.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Hartline bearers went from 3,610 to 3,114 (-13.7% change). The surname moved down 845 positions in the national ranking, going from #9,050 to #9,895.
FAQ
Hartline surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Hartline?
Name Census estimates that about 3,571 living Americans carry the surname Hartline. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 95,983 residents.
How common is Hartline?
Hartline ranks #9,895 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.04 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 3,114 people with the surname Hartline. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,571), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.04 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 Hartline.
Has Hartline become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Hartline went from 3,610 recorded bearers to 3,114. That is a decrease of 496 (-13.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #9,050 to #9,895.
What does the Census say about the background of Hartline?
Among Census respondents with the surname Hartline, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.0%) and Hispanic (3.2%). 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 Hartline in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.4% (2,845 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Hartline appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (91.4%), Two or More Races (4.0%), Hispanic (3.2%). 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 Hartline (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 Hartline mean?
An English occupational surname referring to someone who lived on a boundary line or worked as a tender of deer. 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 Hartline (1.04 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 are called Hartline?
Want to know how many people have the last name Hartline? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.