2000
#13,584
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,050
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.76
Rare Last name
Laforge
A French occupational surname referring to a worker at a forge or smithy.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,422 Americans carry the last name Laforge. That puts it at #13,728 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.71 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 141,517 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Laforge 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
2.4K
1 in 141,517
Census rank
#13,728
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.1K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,112 bearers of the surname Laforge in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.71 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 13728th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Laforge, the largest self-reported group is White at 84.0%. The next largest groups are American Indian/Alaska Native (7.1%) and Hispanic (4.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Laforge
The surname LAFORGE is of French origin, deriving from the words "la" meaning "the" and "forge" meaning "forge" or "smithy". It likely originated in the 11th to 12th centuries as a locational surname, given to individuals who lived near or worked at a forge or blacksmith's workshop.
The name was particularly prevalent in the northern regions of France, where metalworking and blacksmithing were prominent trades. The earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in various medieval records and documents from these areas.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Jean LAFORGE, a blacksmith from the village of Montdidier in the Somme region of northern France, who was mentioned in a land registry from the year 1297. Another early reference is found in the Cartulaire de l'abbaye de Saint-Père de Chartres, a 13th-century manuscript that records a certain Renaud LAFORGE as a landowner in the city of Chartres.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the name appears in various records and documents across northern France, often associated with metalworking trades or individuals living in proximity to forges or smithies. Notable bearers from this period include Jacques LAFORGE (1538-1612), a renowned blacksmith and metalworker from the town of Arras, and Pierre LAFORGE (1591-1653), a master swordsmith from Paris.
In the 18th century, the name gained prominence with the birth of Jean-Baptiste LAFORGE (1739-1825), a renowned French sculptor and artist who worked extensively in Paris and was appointed as a member of the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture.
Other notable individuals with the surname LAFORGE include:
1. Léon LAFORGE (1856-1933), a French architect and urban planner who designed several notable buildings in Paris.
2. Paul LAFORGE (1887-1952), a French poet and writer associated with the Surrealist movement.
3. Albert LAFORGE (1901-1979), a French politician and member of the National Assembly.
4. Lucien LAFORGE (1918-2000), a Canadian photographer and artist known for his portraits and landscape photography.
5. Geordi LAFORGE, a fictional character from the Star Trek universe, played by actor LeVar Burton.
While the name LAFORGE is predominantly French in origin, it has also been adopted and used in other parts of the world, particularly in North America and other former French colonial territories, due to migration and cultural exchange.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Laforge
Among Census respondents with the surname Laforge, the largest self-reported group is White at 84.0%. The next largest groups are American Indian/Alaska Native (7.1%) and Hispanic (4.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Laforge 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 Laforge surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White84.0% · 1,774
- American Indian and Alaska Native7.1% · 150
- Hispanic or Latino4.2% · 89
- Two or more races4.1% · 86
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 10
- Black or African American0.1% · 3
Timeline
Historical Census data for Laforge
Laforge 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
#13,588
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,231
+181 bearers (+8.8%)
Per 100,000 0.76
Rank movement Down 4 places
2020
#13,728
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,112
-119 bearers (-5.3%)
Per 100,000 0.71
Rank movement Down 140 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #13,584 | 2,050 | 0.76 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #13,588 | 2,231 | 0.76 | +181 bearers (+8.8%) | Down 4 places |
| 2020 | #13,728 | 2,112 | 0.71 | -119 bearers (-5.3%) | Down 140 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 Laforge 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 | #13,588 | #13,728 | -1.0% |
| Count | 2,231 | 2,112 | -5.3% |
| Per 100K | 0.76 | 0.71 | -7.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Laforge bearers went from 2,231 to 2,112 (-5.3% change). The surname moved down 140 positions in the national ranking, going from #13,588 to #13,728.
FAQ
Laforge surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Laforge?
Name Census estimates that about 2,422 living Americans carry the surname Laforge. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 141,517 residents.
How common is Laforge?
Laforge ranks #13,728 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.71 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 2,112 people with the surname Laforge. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,422), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.71 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.71 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 Laforge.
Has Laforge become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Laforge went from 2,231 recorded bearers to 2,112. That is a decrease of 119 (-5.3%). In the national ranking it fell from #13,588 to #13,728.
What does the Census say about the background of Laforge?
Among Census respondents with the surname Laforge, the largest self-reported group is White at 84.0%. The next largest groups are American Indian/Alaska Native (7.1%) and Hispanic (4.2%). 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 Laforge in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.0% (1,774 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Laforge appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (84.0%), American Indian/Alaska Native (7.1%), Hispanic (4.2%). 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 Laforge (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 Laforge mean?
A French occupational surname referring to a worker at a forge or smithy. 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 Laforge (0.71 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 Laforge?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.