2000
#136,783
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 113
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Lort
A variant surname derived from the French surname 'Lhoir', meaning heir or lord.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 131 Americans carry the last name Lort. That puts it at #146,495 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,616,445 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Lort 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.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Lort with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
131
1 in 2,616,445
Census rank
#146,495
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
114
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 114 bearers of the surname Lort in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 146495th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Lort, the largest self-reported group is White at 81.6%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (12.3%) and Black (2.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Lort
The surname LORT originated in England during the medieval period. It is derived from the Old French word "l'ort," meaning "the garden." The name likely referred to someone who lived near or worked in a garden or orchard.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the LORT surname can be found in the Hundredorum Rolls of Oxfordshire from 1273, where it is spelled "Lort." This suggests the name was already well-established in England by the 13th century.
The LORT name has been traced back to various locations in England, including Staffordshire, Derbyshire, and Shropshire. In the Domesday Book of 1086, there are references to places such as "Lorte" and "Lortis," which may have been early sources of the surname.
Among notable historical figures bearing the LORT surname was Sir John Lort, a 16th-century English politician who served as a Member of Parliament for Bridgnorth from 1563 to 1567. Another prominent individual was Michael Lort (1725-1790), an English clergyman and antiquary who was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and the Royal Society.
In the 17th century, the LORT family established themselves in Stackpole Court, Pembrokeshire, Wales. One notable member of this branch was Roger Lort (1616-1691), who served as a Member of Parliament for Pembrokeshire in the 1660s. His grandson, Roger Lort (1677-1751), was also a Member of Parliament and held the position of Vice-Admiral of South Wales.
Another significant figure was John Lort Browne (1805-1879), a British diplomat and politician who served as a Member of Parliament for Horsham and Liskeard. He was also the founder of the Browne-Lort Trust, a charitable organization that still operates today.
The LORT name has also been associated with various places in England, such as Lort's Meadow in Shropshire and Lort's Hill in Somerset. These place names further reinforce the connection between the surname and its agricultural origins.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lort
Among Census respondents with the surname Lort, the largest self-reported group is White at 81.6%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (12.3%) and Black (2.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Lort 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 Lort surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.6% · 93
- Asian and Pacific Islander12.3% · 14
- Black or African American2.6% · 3
- Two or more races2.6% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Lort
Lort 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
#158,432
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 102
-11 bearers (-9.7%)
Per 100,000 0.03
Rank movement Down 21,649 places
2020
#146,495
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 114
+12 bearers (+11.8%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 11,937 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #136,783 | 113 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #158,432 | 102 | 0.03 | -11 bearers (-9.7%) | Down 21,649 places |
| 2020 | #146,495 | 114 | 0.04 | +12 bearers (+11.8%) | Up 11,937 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 Lort 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 | #158,432 | #146,495 | 7.5% |
| Count | 102 | 114 | 11.8% |
| Per 100K | 0.03 | 0.04 | 27.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Lort bearers went from 102 to 114 (+11.8% change). The surname moved up 11,937 positions in the national ranking, going from #158,432 to #146,495.
FAQ
Lort surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Lort?
Name Census estimates that about 131 living Americans carry the surname Lort. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,616,445 residents.
How common is Lort?
Lort ranks #146,495 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 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 114 people with the surname Lort. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (131), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 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 Lort.
Has Lort become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Lort went from 102 recorded bearers to 114. That is an increase of 12 (+11.8%). In the national ranking it rose from #158,432 to #146,495.
What does the Census say about the background of Lort?
Among Census respondents with the surname Lort, the largest self-reported group is White at 81.6%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (12.3%) and Black (2.6%). 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 Lort in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.6% (93 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Lort appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (81.6%), Asian/Pacific Islander (12.3%), Black (2.6%). 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 Lort (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 Lort mean?
A variant surname derived from the French surname 'Lhoir', meaning heir or lord. 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 Lort (0.04 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 Lort?
If you just want to know how many Americans have the surname Lort, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.