2000
#1,175
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 27,337
First available Census row
Per 100,000 10.13
Uncommon Last name
Lyon
A surname of French origin referring to a person who lived in or near the city of Lyon.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 30,958 Americans carry the last name Lyon. That puts it at #1,275 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 9.03 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 11,072 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Lyon 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 Lyon with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
31K
1 in 11,072
Census rank
#1,275
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
9.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
27K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 26,997 bearers of the surname Lyon in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 9.03 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 1275th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Lyon, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.5%) and Hispanic (3.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Lyon
The surname LYON is of Anglo-French origin, deriving from the French city of Lyon, located in east-central France. It is believed to have first emerged as a surname in England during the Norman Conquest of 1066, when many French settlers arrived and adopted the name as a way to identify their place of origin.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the LYON surname can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which was a survey of landholdings commissioned by William the Conqueror. The name appears as "de Lyon," indicating that the bearer was from the city of Lyon.
During the Middle Ages, the LYON surname was particularly prevalent in the counties of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire, where some of the earliest recorded bearers settled. One notable example is Sir John de Lyon, who was born in 1249 and served as a member of Parliament for Oxfordshire in 1295.
In the 14th century, the surname appeared in various spellings, including Lyons, Lyoun, and Lyone, reflecting the phonetic variations of the time. One prominent individual from this period was Sir John Lyon, a merchant and philanthropist born in 1512, who founded Harrow School in London.
As the LYON surname spread across Britain and into other parts of the world, it became associated with several notable figures throughout history. One such individual was Mary Lyon, born in 1797, who established Mount Holyoke College, one of the first institutions of higher education for women in the United States.
In the 19th century, the LYON surname gained further prominence with individuals like Nathaniel Lyon, a Union Army general during the American Civil War, born in 1818, and Mary Lyon, a women's rights activist born in 1858.
Other notable bearers of the LYON surname include Claude Lyon, a French chemist born in 1677, who made significant contributions to the understanding of acids and bases, and Phyllis Lyon, an American lesbian rights activist born in 1924, who was one of the founders of the Daughters of Bilitis, the first lesbian rights organization in the United States.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lyon
Among Census respondents with the surname Lyon, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.5%) and Hispanic (3.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Lyon 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 Lyon surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.8% · 23,972
- Two or more races3.5% · 938
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 905
- Black or African American3.1% · 840
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 220
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 122
Timeline
Historical Census data for Lyon
Lyon 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
#1,271
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 27,690
+353 bearers (+1.3%)
Per 100,000 9.39
Rank movement Down 96 places
2020
#1,275
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 26,997
-693 bearers (-2.5%)
Per 100,000 9.03
Rank movement Down 4 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #1,175 | 27,337 | 10.13 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #1,271 | 27,690 | 9.39 | +353 bearers (+1.3%) | Down 96 places |
| 2020 | #1,275 | 26,997 | 9.03 | -693 bearers (-2.5%) | Down 4 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 Lyon 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 | #1,271 | #1,275 | -0.3% |
| Count | 27,690 | 26,997 | -2.5% |
| Per 100K | 9.39 | 9.03 | -3.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Lyon bearers went from 27,690 to 26,997 (-2.5% change). The surname moved down 4 positions in the national ranking, going from #1,271 to #1,275.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Lyon
FAQ
Lyon surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Lyon?
Name Census estimates that about 30,958 living Americans carry the surname Lyon. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 11,072 residents.
How common is Lyon?
Lyon ranks #1,275 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 9.03 per 100,000 residents, which is about 9 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 26,997 people with the surname Lyon. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (30,958), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 9.03 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 9.03 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 9 of them to have the surname Lyon.
Has Lyon become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Lyon went from 27,690 recorded bearers to 26,997. That is a decrease of 693 (-2.5%). In the national ranking it fell from #1,271 to #1,275.
What does the Census say about the background of Lyon?
Among Census respondents with the surname Lyon, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.5%) and Hispanic (3.4%). 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 Lyon in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.8% (23,972 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Lyon appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (88.8%), Two or More Races (3.5%), Hispanic (3.4%). 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 Lyon (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 Lyon mean?
A surname of French origin referring to a person who lived in or near the city of Lyon. 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 Lyon (9.03 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 Lyon?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.