2000
#13,459
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,075
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.77
Rare Last name
Lamotte
A French toponymic surname derived from a place name meaning "the mound" or "the hill."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,125 Americans carry the last name Lamotte. 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 Lamotte 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
2.1K
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 Lamotte 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 Lamotte, the largest self-reported group is White at 74.0%. The next largest groups are Black (13.3%) and Hispanic (5.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Lamotte
The surname Lamotte originated in France during the medieval period. It is derived from the French words "la" meaning "the" and "motte" meaning a small hill or mound. This suggests the name likely referred to someone who lived near a prominent hillock or mound.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name appears in the Livre des Bourgeois de Rouen, a register of citizens in the city of Rouen, Normandy, which mentions a Robert de la Motte in 1292. The name also appears in various other medieval records from northern France, with spellings like La Mote, Lamote, and De la Motte.
A notable early bearer of this surname was Jean Lamotte, a French mathematician and astronomer born in Rouen around 1520. He made important contributions to the study of comets and planetary motion.
In the 17th century, Jacques Lamotte, born in 1620 in Calais, was a renowned French painter and etcher known for his portraits and religious works. His art can be found in museums across Europe.
Antoine Houdart de Lamotte, born in 1672 in Paris, was a influential French poet, critic, and dramatist during the Age of Enlightenment. He produced notable works like Fables nouvelles and Inès de Castro.
Marie-Anne Lamotte, born in 1756 in Normandy, was a famous French dancer and choreographer who achieved great success at the Paris Opera Ballet in the late 18th century.
Another prominent bearer was Marshal Joachim Lamotte, born in 1804 in Metz, who served as a general in the French army during the Napoleonic Wars and later became a senator under Napoleon III.
While the surname's origins trace back to northern France, over the centuries it spread to other regions and countries, with variations like Lamott, Lamot, and Lamotte found across Europe and even in North America among descendants of French immigrants.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lamotte
Among Census respondents with the surname Lamotte, the largest self-reported group is White at 74.0%. The next largest groups are Black (13.3%) and Hispanic (5.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Lamotte 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 Lamotte surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White74.0% · 1,371
- Black or African American13.3% · 246
- Hispanic or Latino5.7% · 105
- Two or more races4.1% · 76
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.1% · 38
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 17
Timeline
Historical Census data for Lamotte
Lamotte 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
#13,326
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,289
+214 bearers (+10.3%)
Per 100,000 0.78
Rank movement Up 133 places
2020
#15,248
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,853
-436 bearers (-19.0%)
Per 100,000 0.62
Rank movement Down 1,922 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #13,459 | 2,075 | 0.77 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #13,326 | 2,289 | 0.78 | +214 bearers (+10.3%) | Up 133 places |
| 2020 | #15,248 | 1,853 | 0.62 | -436 bearers (-19.0%) | Down 1,922 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 Lamotte 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 | #13,326 | #15,248 | -14.4% |
| Count | 2,289 | 1,853 | -19.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.78 | 0.62 | -20.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Lamotte bearers went from 2,289 to 1,853 (-19.0% change). The surname moved down 1,922 positions in the national ranking, going from #13,326 to #15,248.
FAQ
Lamotte surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Lamotte?
Name Census estimates that about 2,125 living Americans carry the surname Lamotte. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 161,296 residents.
How common is Lamotte?
Lamotte 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 Lamotte. 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 Lamotte.
Has Lamotte become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Lamotte went from 2,289 recorded bearers to 1,853. That is a decrease of 436 (-19.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #13,326 to #15,248.
What does the Census say about the background of Lamotte?
Among Census respondents with the surname Lamotte, the largest self-reported group is White at 74.0%. The next largest groups are Black (13.3%) and Hispanic (5.7%). 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 Lamotte in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.0% (1,371 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Lamotte appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (74.0%), Black (13.3%), Hispanic (5.7%). 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 Lamotte (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 Lamotte mean?
A French toponymic surname derived from a place name meaning "the mound" or "the hill." 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 Lamotte (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 Americans have the surname Lamotte?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.