Lafernier
A French surname referring to an ironworker or blacksmith.
According to the 2010 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 103 Americans carry the last name Lafernier. That puts it at #159,712 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 3,327,712 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Lafernier 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.
Lafernier appeared in the 2010 Census surname file but was not included in the published 2020 file. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames with at least 100 recorded bearers, so this usually means the name fell below that threshold.
Bearers in the US
103
1 in 3,327,712
Census rank
#159,712
2010 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
101
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 101 bearers of the surname Lafernier in its 2010 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 159712th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Lafernier, the largest self-reported group is American Indian/Alaska Native at 67.3%. The next largest groups are White (23.8%) and Two or More Races (5.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Lafernier
The surname LAFERNIER is believed to have originated in France during the medieval period. It is thought to be a locational name, derived from a particular place or region, though the exact location remains uncertain. Some linguists suggest it may be related to the Old French words "la" meaning "the" and "fernier" meaning "ironmonger" or "blacksmith," implying the name may have referred to someone who lived near or worked in an iron-forging area.
One of the earliest known references to the LAFERNIER name appears in a 14th-century document from the Normandy region of France, where a certain Jean LAFERNIER is mentioned as a landowner. This suggests the name had already been established in that region by that time.
In the 16th century, records show a Guillaume LAFERNIER who was a prominent merchant and trader in the city of Lyon, France. His success and influence may have helped spread the name more widely throughout the country.
During the 17th century, a notable figure named Jacques LAFERNIER was a respected scholar and author who wrote several works on philosophy and theology. He was born in 1609 in Paris and died in 1684.
Another notable bearer of the LAFERNIER name was Marie LAFERNIER, a French artist and painter who lived in the late 18th century. Her works were widely acclaimed during her lifetime, and some of her paintings can still be found in museums and private collections today.
In the 19th century, a man named Pierre LAFERNIER was a successful businessman and entrepreneur who established several successful companies in the textile industry in the city of Lille, France. He was born in 1822 and died in 1899.
While the LAFERNIER surname is most commonly associated with France, it has also been found in other parts of Europe and in various French-speaking regions around the world, likely due to migration and cultural diffusion over the centuries.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lafernier
Among Census respondents with the surname Lafernier, the largest self-reported group is American Indian/Alaska Native at 67.3%. The next largest groups are White (23.8%) and Two or More Races (5.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Lafernier bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2010 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 Lafernier surname at the time of the 2010 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- American Indian and Alaska Native67.3%
- White23.8%
- Two or more races5.9%
- Unknown or suppressed3.0%
FAQ
Lafernier surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Lafernier?
Name Census estimates that about 103 living Americans carry the surname Lafernier. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 3,327,712 residents.
How common is Lafernier?
Lafernier ranks #159,712 in the 2010 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.03 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 2010 Census file counted 101 people with the surname Lafernier. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (103), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.03 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.03 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 Lafernier.
Has Lafernier become more or less common over time?
Lafernier appears here with 2010 Census data. When additional surname-file years are available for this name, Name Census uses them to show longer-term movement in rank and bearer count.
What does the Census say about the background of Lafernier?
Among Census respondents with the surname Lafernier, the largest self-reported group is American Indian/Alaska Native at 67.3%. The next largest groups are White (23.8%) and Two or More Races (5.9%). These figures come from the 2010 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
American Indian/Alaska Native is the largest self-reported group for the surname Lafernier in the 2010 Census, accounting for 67.3%.
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Lafernier appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2010 file are American Indian/Alaska Native (67.3%), White (23.8%), Two or More Races (5.9%).
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Not necessarily. Lafernier appears here with 2010 Census data, while the latest surname file loaded on Name Census is 2020. When a surname drops below the Census publication threshold, older rows can still be kept for historical reference even if the name no longer appears in the newest file.
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 Lafernier mean?
A French surname referring to an ironworker or blacksmith. 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 2010 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 Lafernier (0.03 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 Americans have the surname Lafernier?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.