2000
#15,061
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,797
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.67
Rare Last name
Kirkbride
A locational surname from any of various places named with the Old Norse elements kirkja 'church' and byr 'farm' or 'settlement'.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,125 Americans carry the last name Kirkbride. That puts it at #15,248 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.62 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 161,296 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Kirkbride 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 Kirkbride with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
2.1K
1 in 161,296
Census rank
#15,248
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.9K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,853 bearers of the surname Kirkbride in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.62 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 15248th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Kirkbride, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.5%) and Hispanic (3.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Kirkbride
The surname Kirkbride is of English origin and dates back to the Middle Ages. It is a locational name, derived from the place name Kirkbride, a small village in the Allerdale district of Cumbria, located near the Solway Firth. The name itself is a combination of the Old Norse words "kirkju" meaning church and "bry̆ggjur" meaning bridge or jetty, referring to a church by a bridge or causeway.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kirkbride can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Cumberland from 1212, where it appears as "Kyrkebrid." This suggests that the name was well-established in the region by the 13th century. The Kirkbride family held lands in Cumberland and Westmorland, and their name is associated with various manors and estates in these areas.
In the 14th century, Sir John de Kirkbride was a prominent figure who served as the High Sheriff of Cumberland in 1357. Another notable bearer of the name was Robert Kirkbride, who was appointed as the Bishop of Carlisle in 1521 and served until his death in 1528.
During the English Civil War in the 17th century, the Kirkbrides were staunch Royalists, and several members of the family fought for King Charles I. Sir Ivers Kirkbride was a colonel in the Royalist army and was killed in action at the Battle of Edgehill in 1642.
In the 18th century, John Kirkbride (1723-1809) was a notable English Quaker and philanthropist who founded the Retreat, one of the earliest institutions for the humane treatment of the mentally ill, in York.
Another significant figure was Thomas Stedman Whitwell Kirkbride (1809-1883), an American physician and one of the founders of the Association of Medical Superintendents of American Institutions for the Insane (now the American Psychiatric Association). He was also the designer of the Kirkbride Plan, a system of mental asylum construction that was widely used in the United States in the 19th century.
While the name Kirkbride has its roots in Cumbria, it has since spread to various parts of the world, including North America, Australia, and New Zealand, as a result of migration and settlement patterns.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kirkbride
Among Census respondents with the surname Kirkbride, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.5%) and Hispanic (3.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Kirkbride 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 Kirkbride surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.3% · 1,673
- Two or more races4.5% · 83
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 64
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 21
- Black or African American0.6% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Kirkbride
Kirkbride 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
#15,748
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,851
+54 bearers (+3.0%)
Per 100,000 0.63
Rank movement Down 687 places
2020
#15,248
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,853
+2 bearers (+0.1%)
Per 100,000 0.62
Rank movement Up 500 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #15,061 | 1,797 | 0.67 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #15,748 | 1,851 | 0.63 | +54 bearers (+3.0%) | Down 687 places |
| 2020 | #15,248 | 1,853 | 0.62 | +2 bearers (+0.1%) | Up 500 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 Kirkbride 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 | #15,748 | #15,248 | 3.2% |
| Count | 1,851 | 1,853 | 0.1% |
| Per 100K | 0.63 | 0.62 | -1.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Kirkbride bearers went from 1,851 to 1,853 (+0.1% change). The surname moved up 500 positions in the national ranking, going from #15,748 to #15,248.
FAQ
Kirkbride surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Kirkbride?
Name Census estimates that about 2,125 living Americans carry the surname Kirkbride. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 161,296 residents.
How common is Kirkbride?
Kirkbride ranks #15,248 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 1,853 people with the surname Kirkbride. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,125), 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 Kirkbride.
Has Kirkbride become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Kirkbride went from 1,851 recorded bearers to 1,853. That is an increase of 2 (+0.1%). In the national ranking it rose from #15,748 to #15,248.
What does the Census say about the background of Kirkbride?
Among Census respondents with the surname Kirkbride, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.5%) and Hispanic (3.5%). 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 Kirkbride in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.3% (1,673 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Kirkbride appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (90.3%), Two or More Races (4.5%), Hispanic (3.5%). 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 Kirkbride (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 Kirkbride mean?
A locational surname from any of various places named with the Old Norse elements kirkja 'church' and byr 'farm' or 'settlement'. 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 Kirkbride (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 many people have the last name Kirkbride?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the last name Kirkbride at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.