2000
#146,011
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 104
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Humbyrd
A Germanic surname derived from the words "hum" meaning hum or buzz and "byrd" meaning bird, possibly referring to an occupation or descriptive nickname.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 120 Americans carry the last name Humbyrd. That puts it at #152,989 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,856,286 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Humbyrd 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
120
1 in 2,856,286
Census rank
#152,989
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
105
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 105 bearers of the surname Humbyrd in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 152989th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Humbyrd, the largest self-reported group is White at 79.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (13.3%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (4.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Humbyrd
The surname HUMBYRD is believed to have originated in England during the late medieval period. It is thought to derive from the Old English words "hum" meaning a tract of fertile land and "byrd" meaning a young bird or nestling. This suggests that the name may have initially referred to someone who lived near or worked on a fertile area where young birds nested or were reared.
The earliest recorded instance of the name appears in the Huntingdonshire Feet of Fines from 1325, where a John Humbyrd is mentioned in relation to a land transaction. Similar spellings such as Humbrid, Humberd and Humbyrd crop up in various historical records from the 14th and 15th centuries across counties like Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire.
One notable early bearer of the name was Thomas Humbyrd, a merchant and alderman who lived in Bristol in the late 15th century. He is recorded as having served as Mayor of Bristol in 1488. Another early Humbyrd of note was John Humbyrd, a yeoman farmer from Oxfordshire who is mentioned in the Oxfordshire Feet of Fines in 1507.
Moving into the 16th century, we find records of a Richard Humbyrd who was a landowner in Buckinghamshire in the 1530s. Around the same time, a William Humbyrd is listed as holding lands in the village of Bradwell in Buckinghamshire according to the Lay Subsidy Rolls of 1524.
One of the most prominent Humbyrds was Henry Humbyrd, a wealthy merchant and Member of Parliament who was born around 1530 in Ipswich, Suffolk. He served as an MP for Ipswich in 1572 and was a significant benefactor to the town, funding the construction of almshouses and a school that bore his name.
While not an exhaustive list, these are some of the more noteworthy early references and bearers of the surname HUMBYRD found in historical records across medieval and Tudor England. The name seems to have origins tied to the countryside and agriculture before branching out into mercantile and gentry families over time.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Humbyrd
Among Census respondents with the surname Humbyrd, the largest self-reported group is White at 79.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (13.3%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (4.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Humbyrd 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 Humbyrd surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White79.0% · 83
- Two or more races13.3% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native4.8% · 5
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 3
Timeline
Historical Census data for Humbyrd
Humbyrd 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
#145,220
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 114
+10 bearers (+9.6%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 791 places
2020
#152,989
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 105
-9 bearers (-7.9%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 7,769 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #146,011 | 104 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #145,220 | 114 | 0.04 | +10 bearers (+9.6%) | Up 791 places |
| 2020 | #152,989 | 105 | 0.04 | -9 bearers (-7.9%) | Down 7,769 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 Humbyrd 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 | #145,220 | #152,989 | -5.3% |
| Count | 114 | 105 | -7.9% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -12.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Humbyrd bearers went from 114 to 105 (-7.9% change). The surname moved down 7,769 positions in the national ranking, going from #145,220 to #152,989.
FAQ
Humbyrd surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Humbyrd?
Name Census estimates that about 120 living Americans carry the surname Humbyrd. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,856,286 residents.
How common is Humbyrd?
Humbyrd ranks #152,989 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 105 people with the surname Humbyrd. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (120), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Humbyrd.
Has Humbyrd become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Humbyrd went from 114 recorded bearers to 105. That is a decrease of 9 (-7.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #145,220 to #152,989.
What does the Census say about the background of Humbyrd?
Among Census respondents with the surname Humbyrd, the largest self-reported group is White at 79.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (13.3%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (4.8%). 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 Humbyrd in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.0% (83 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Humbyrd appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (79.0%), Two or More Races (13.3%), American Indian/Alaska Native (4.8%). 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 Humbyrd (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 Humbyrd mean?
A Germanic surname derived from the words "hum" meaning hum or buzz and "byrd" meaning bird, possibly referring to an occupation or descriptive nickname. 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 Humbyrd (0.04 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 have the last name Humbyrd?
You can see how many people are called Humbyrd on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.