2000
#24,993
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 933
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.35
Rare Last name
Lamarr
A French surname derived from the French place name Lamarche.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 1,060 Americans carry the last name Lamarr. That puts it at #27,616 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.31 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 323,353 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Lamarr 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
1.1K
1 in 323,353
Census rank
#27,616
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.3
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
924
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 924 bearers of the surname Lamarr in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.31 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 27616th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Lamarr, the largest self-reported group is White at 57.7%. The next largest groups are Black (27.2%) and Two or More Races (7.1%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Lamarr
The surname Lamarr is believed to have originated in France during the Middle Ages. It is derived from the French word "la mar," which means "the sea" or "the ocean." This suggests that the name may have been given to someone who lived near the sea or worked in a maritime occupation.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the surname Lamarr can be found in the Livre des Métiers, a medieval French document that listed various trades and professions. In this document, there is a reference to a "Guillaume de la Mar," who was a fisherman living in Paris in the early 13th century.
The name Lamarr also appeared in some early English records, possibly brought over by Norman settlers after the Norman Conquest of 1066. In the Domesday Book, a survey of land ownership in England completed in 1086, there is a reference to a landowner named "Robert de la Mare" in the county of Sussex.
During the Renaissance period, the surname Lamarr gained prominence in France. One notable figure was Jacques de Lamarr (1544-1617), a French naval officer and explorer who served under King Henry IV. He is known for his exploration of the coast of Brazil and for establishing a French settlement in what is now Rio de Janeiro.
Another famous bearer of the Lamarr surname was Jean-Baptiste Lamarr (1744-1829), a French naturalist and one of the earliest proponents of the idea of evolution. His theory of the inheritance of acquired characteristics, while ultimately disproven, was influential in the development of evolutionary thought.
In the 19th century, the Lamarr family produced several notable figures in the arts and sciences. Auguste Lamarr (1801-1865) was a French painter and lithographer, best known for his landscapes and portraits of Parisian society. His brother, Théodore Lamarr (1805-1873), was a chemist and inventor who contributed to the development of early photographic processes.
Moving into the 20th century, one of the most famous bearers of the Lamarr surname was actress Hedy Lamarr (1914-2000). Although she was born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler in Austria, she took the stage name "Hedy Lamarr" when she began her acting career in Hollywood. Lamarr was not only a successful actress but also an inventor, co-patenting a frequency-hopping spread spectrum technology that would later form the basis for modern wireless communications.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lamarr
Among Census respondents with the surname Lamarr, the largest self-reported group is White at 57.7%. The next largest groups are Black (27.2%) and Two or More Races (7.1%).
The bar chart below shows how Lamarr 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 Lamarr surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White57.7% · 533
- Black or African American27.2% · 251
- Two or more races7.1% · 66
- Hispanic or Latino5.3% · 49
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.9% · 18
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 7
Timeline
Historical Census data for Lamarr
Lamarr 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
#21,184
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,239
+306 bearers (+32.8%)
Per 100,000 0.42
Rank movement Up 3,809 places
2020
#27,616
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 924
-315 bearers (-25.4%)
Per 100,000 0.31
Rank movement Down 6,432 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #24,993 | 933 | 0.35 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #21,184 | 1,239 | 0.42 | +306 bearers (+32.8%) | Up 3,809 places |
| 2020 | #27,616 | 924 | 0.31 | -315 bearers (-25.4%) | Down 6,432 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 Lamarr 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 | #21,184 | #27,616 | -30.4% |
| Count | 1,239 | 924 | -25.4% |
| Per 100K | 0.42 | 0.31 | -26.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Lamarr bearers went from 1,239 to 924 (-25.4% change). The surname moved down 6,432 positions in the national ranking, going from #21,184 to #27,616.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Lamarr
FAQ
Lamarr surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Lamarr?
Name Census estimates that about 1,060 living Americans carry the surname Lamarr. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 323,353 residents.
How common is Lamarr?
Lamarr ranks #27,616 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.31 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 924 people with the surname Lamarr. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (1,060), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.31 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.31 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 Lamarr.
Has Lamarr become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Lamarr went from 1,239 recorded bearers to 924. That is a decrease of 315 (-25.4%). In the national ranking it fell from #21,184 to #27,616.
What does the Census say about the background of Lamarr?
Among Census respondents with the surname Lamarr, the largest self-reported group is White at 57.7%. The next largest groups are Black (27.2%) and Two or More Races (7.1%). 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 Lamarr in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.7% (533 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Lamarr appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (57.7%), Black (27.2%), Two or More Races (7.1%). 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 Lamarr (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 Lamarr mean?
A French surname derived from the French place name Lamarche. 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 Lamarr (0.31 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 Lamarr?
Want to know how many people have the surname Lamarr? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.