Lancelot last name popularity, history, and meaning

Find out how popular the last name Lancelot is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Lancelot.

Meaning of Lancelot

A surname derived from the French name Lancelot, associated with one of the Knights of the Round Table.

Lancelot, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Lancelot surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Lancelot in America

Lancelot is the 111988th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Lancelot surname appeared 157 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Lancelot.

We can also compare 2010 data for Lancelot to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 111988 100663 10.65%
Count 157 166 -5.57%
Proportion per 100k 0.05 0.06 -18.18%

The history of the last name Lancelot

The surname Lancelot is of French origin, derived from the Old French "l'ancelot" meaning "the little angel" or "the little servant." It is believed to have originated in the region of Brittany, France, during the Middle Ages.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lancelot can be found in the Arthurian legends, specifically in the 12th-century French romance "Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart" by Chrétien de Troyes. In this work, Lancelot is depicted as one of the Knights of the Round Table and a central figure in the Arthurian mythos.

The name Lancelot is also mentioned in various medieval manuscripts and records, such as the 13th-century "Roman de la Rose" by Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun, where it appears as a character's name.

In the 15th century, the surname Lancelot was recorded in the Domesday Book, a survey of landholders in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. This suggests that individuals bearing this surname had likely migrated from France to England during the Norman Conquest.

Notable individuals with the surname Lancelot throughout history include:

  1. Sir Lancelot du Lac (c. 1170 - c. 1240), a legendary knight from the Arthurian legends, believed to have been inspired by a historical figure.

  2. François Lancelot (1615 - 1695), a French grammarian and linguist who made significant contributions to the study of French grammar and the teaching of foreign languages.

  3. Antoine Lancelot (1675 - 1740), a French historian and member of the Benedictine Congregation of Saint-Maur, known for his work on the history of the Byzantine Empire.

  4. Olivier Lancelot (1722 - 1804), a French architect and urban planner who designed several notable buildings in Paris, including the Théâtre des Célestins.

  5. Pierre Lancelot (1806 - 1884), a French politician and journalist who served as a deputy in the National Assembly and was involved in the revolutionary movements of the 19th century.

The surname Lancelot has also been associated with various place names, such as Lancelot in the Orne department of Normandy, France, and the village of Lancelot in the Pas-de-Calais department of northern France.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Lancelot

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Lancelot.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

  1. White only
  2. Black only
  3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
  4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
  5. Hispanic
  6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Lancelot was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 77.07% 121
Non-Hispanic Black Only 10.19% 16
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 3.18% 5
Hispanic Origin 8.92% 14

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Lancelot has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 77.07% 87.95% -13.19%
Black 10.19% 7.23% 33.98%
Asian and Pacific Islander (S)% (S)% (S)%
American Indian and Alaskan Native (S)% (S)% (S)%
Two or More Races 3.18% 0.00% 200.00%
Hispanic 8.92% 3.61% 84.76%

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Lancelot was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Lancelot, please contact us.

Reference this page

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If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!

"Lancelot last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on July 16, 2025. http://namecensus.com/last-names/lancelot-surname-popularity/.

"Lancelot last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/lancelot-surname-popularity/. Accessed 16 July, 2025

Lancelot last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/lancelot-surname-popularity/.

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