2000
#14,292
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,922
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.71
Rare Last name
Hearns
An occupational name for a person who guarded an enclosure or forest.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,113 Americans carry the last name Hearns. That puts it at #15,331 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.62 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 162,212 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Hearns 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 Hearns with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
2.1K
1 in 162,212
Census rank
#15,331
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.8K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,843 bearers of the surname Hearns in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.62 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 15331st position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Hearns, the largest self-reported group is Black at 64.9%. The next largest groups are White (25.0%) and Two or More Races (5.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Hearns
The surname Hearns is of English origin, and it dates back to the medieval period. It is a locational name derived from the Old English words "heor" and "erņ," which together mean "a place frequented by hares." The name likely referred to someone who lived near a hare's den or a place where hares were abundant.
The earliest recorded instances of the surname Hearns can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as "Hernes" and "Hernes." This suggests that the name was already in use before the Norman Conquest of 1066.
In the 13th century, the name was recorded as "Herne" and "Hern" in various county records, such as the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire and the Feet of Fines for Essex. These early spellings reflect the evolution of the name over time.
One of the earliest known bearers of the surname was William Herne, who was mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Buckinghamshire in 1203. Another notable individual was John Herne, a prominent merchant from Bristol who lived in the late 14th century.
During the 16th century, the name was sometimes associated with the heron bird, and it was sometimes spelled as "Hearon" or "Heyron." This association with the heron may have been due to the similarity in pronunciation between "hare" and "heron."
In the 17th century, the surname appeared in various spellings, including "Hearne," "Hearn," and "Hearns." One notable bearer of the name from this period was Thomas Hearne, an English antiquary and scholar who lived from 1678 to 1735.
Another significant figure with the surname Hearns was John Hearne, an English soldier and adventurer who fought in the English Civil War and later became a pirate in the Caribbean. He lived from around 1625 to 1660.
In the 18th century, the spelling "Hearns" became more prevalent, and the name was associated with several notable individuals, including William Hearns, a British naval officer who served during the American Revolutionary War, and Richard Hearns, an English playwright and author who lived from 1720 to 1795.
As the centuries passed, the surname Hearns spread across various regions of England, with concentrations in counties such as Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, and Essex, where the name originated. The name also found its way to other parts of the British Isles and eventually to various parts of the world through the process of migration and colonization.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hearns
Among Census respondents with the surname Hearns, the largest self-reported group is Black at 64.9%. The next largest groups are White (25.0%) and Two or More Races (5.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Hearns 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 Hearns surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American64.9% · 1,197
- White25.0% · 460
- Two or more races5.9% · 108
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 64
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 4
Timeline
Historical Census data for Hearns
Hearns 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
#15,272
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,923
+1 bearers (+0.1%)
Per 100,000 0.65
Rank movement Down 980 places
2020
#15,331
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,843
-80 bearers (-4.2%)
Per 100,000 0.62
Rank movement Down 59 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #14,292 | 1,922 | 0.71 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #15,272 | 1,923 | 0.65 | +1 bearers (+0.1%) | Down 980 places |
| 2020 | #15,331 | 1,843 | 0.62 | -80 bearers (-4.2%) | Down 59 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 Hearns 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 | #15,272 | #15,331 | -0.4% |
| Count | 1,923 | 1,843 | -4.2% |
| Per 100K | 0.65 | 0.62 | -5.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Hearns bearers went from 1,923 to 1,843 (-4.2% change). The surname moved down 59 positions in the national ranking, going from #15,272 to #15,331.
FAQ
Hearns surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Hearns?
Name Census estimates that about 2,113 living Americans carry the surname Hearns. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 162,212 residents.
How common is Hearns?
Hearns ranks #15,331 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.62 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 1,843 people with the surname Hearns. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,113), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.62 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.62 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 Hearns.
Has Hearns become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Hearns went from 1,923 recorded bearers to 1,843. That is a decrease of 80 (-4.2%). In the national ranking it fell from #15,272 to #15,331.
What does the Census say about the background of Hearns?
Among Census respondents with the surname Hearns, the largest self-reported group is Black at 64.9%. The next largest groups are White (25.0%) and Two or More Races (5.9%). 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?
Black is the largest self-reported group for the surname Hearns in the 2020 Census, accounting for 64.9% (1,197 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Hearns appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Black (64.9%), White (25.0%), Two or More Races (5.9%). 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 Hearns (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 Hearns mean?
An occupational name for a person who guarded an enclosure or forest. 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 Hearns (0.62 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 common is the surname Hearns?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the surname Hearns at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.