2000
#1,584
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 20,753
First available Census row
Per 100,000 7.69
Uncommon Last name
Hurt
An English occupational surname referring to a shepherd or someone who tended animals, from the Middle English "herde".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 22,912 Americans carry the last name Hurt. That puts it at #1,753 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 6.68 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 14,960 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Hurt 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 Hurt with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
23K
1 in 14,960
Census rank
#1,753
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
6.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
20K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 19,980 bearers of the surname Hurt in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 6.68 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 1753rd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Hurt, the largest self-reported group is White at 68.3%. The next largest groups are Black (22.8%) and Two or More Races (4.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Hurt
The surname Hurt has its origins in England, where it first appeared in the 13th century. It is believed to be derived from the Old English word "hyrtan," which means "to ram" or "to strike." This suggests that the name may have been originally given to someone who worked as a rammer or striker, perhaps in a profession like construction or mining.
In the Domesday Book of 1086, which was a survey of landowners in England commissioned by William the Conqueror, there are several references to people with the surname Hurt or variations of it, such as Hurtaud and Hurtevent. This indicates that the name was present in England even before the Norman Conquest.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Hurt is found in the Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire from 1199, where a man named Robert Hurt is mentioned. Another early example is from the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire in 1273, which lists a John Hurt.
The surname Hurt may also be related to certain place names in England, such as Hurtwood in Surrey or Hurtshill in Warwickshire. It is possible that some individuals with the surname Hurt took their name from these locations or similar ones.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals with the surname Hurt. One example is Sir William Hurt (c. 1389-1449), who was a Member of Parliament and served as the Sheriff of Shropshire and Staffordshire during the reign of Henry VI.
Another prominent figure was John Hurt (1522-1592), an English theologian and Protestant reformer who played a significant role in the English Reformation under Queen Elizabeth I.
In the literary world, Walter Hurt (1776-1859) was an English poet and writer who published works such as "Amarynthus, the Nympholept" and "The Florist's Manual."
Sir Robert Hurt (1839-1909) was a British businessman and philanthropist who founded the Wills & Hepworth Brewery and served as the High Sheriff of Gloucestershire in 1891.
More recently, John Vincent Hurt (1940-2017) was a renowned English actor known for his roles in films like "The Elephant Man," "Alien," and the "Harry Potter" series.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hurt
Among Census respondents with the surname Hurt, the largest self-reported group is White at 68.3%. The next largest groups are Black (22.8%) and Two or More Races (4.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Hurt 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 Hurt surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White68.3% · 13,641
- Black or African American22.8% · 4,547
- Two or more races4.8% · 965
- Hispanic or Latino3.0% · 598
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 118
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 111
Timeline
Historical Census data for Hurt
Hurt 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
#1,708
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 21,037
+284 bearers (+1.4%)
Per 100,000 7.13
Rank movement Down 124 places
2020
#1,753
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 19,980
-1,057 bearers (-5.0%)
Per 100,000 6.68
Rank movement Down 45 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #1,584 | 20,753 | 7.69 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #1,708 | 21,037 | 7.13 | +284 bearers (+1.4%) | Down 124 places |
| 2020 | #1,753 | 19,980 | 6.68 | -1,057 bearers (-5.0%) | Down 45 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 Hurt 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 | #1,708 | #1,753 | -2.6% |
| Count | 21,037 | 19,980 | -5.0% |
| Per 100K | 7.13 | 6.68 | -6.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Hurt bearers went from 21,037 to 19,980 (-5.0% change). The surname moved down 45 positions in the national ranking, going from #1,708 to #1,753.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Hurt
FAQ
Hurt surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Hurt?
Name Census estimates that about 22,912 living Americans carry the surname Hurt. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 14,960 residents.
How common is Hurt?
Hurt ranks #1,753 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 6.68 per 100,000 residents, which is about 7 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 19,980 people with the surname Hurt. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (22,912), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 6.68 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 6.68 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 7 of them to have the surname Hurt.
Has Hurt become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Hurt went from 21,037 recorded bearers to 19,980. That is a decrease of 1,057 (-5.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #1,708 to #1,753.
What does the Census say about the background of Hurt?
Among Census respondents with the surname Hurt, the largest self-reported group is White at 68.3%. The next largest groups are Black (22.8%) and Two or More Races (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 Hurt in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.3% (13,641 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Hurt appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (68.3%), Black (22.8%), Two or More Races (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 Hurt (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 Hurt mean?
An English occupational surname referring to a shepherd or someone who tended animals, from the Middle English "herde". 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 Hurt (6.68 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 Hurt?
If you just want to know how many people are called Hurt, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.