2000
#4,050
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 8,065
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.99
Rare Last name
Maness
Derived from a French place name meaning "the dwelling," likely referring to a family's location or property.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 8,573 Americans carry the last name Maness. That puts it at #4,604 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.50 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 39,981 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Maness 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
8.6K
1 in 39,981
Census rank
#4,604
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.5
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
7.5K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 7,476 bearers of the surname Maness in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.50 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 4604th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Maness, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.8%) and Black (3.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Maness
The surname Maness finds its origins in the Brittany region of northwestern France, specifically in the areas surrounding the city of Rennes. The name is derived from the Old Breton word "manac'h," meaning "monk" or "monastic." This suggests that the earliest bearers of the name may have been associated with a monastic order or lived in close proximity to a monastery.
Records dating back to the 13th century show instances of the name being spelled as "Manec," "Manach," and "Manac'h," reflecting the linguistic evolution of the region. One of the earliest documented references to the name can be found in the "Cartulaire de l'Abbaye de Saint-Aubin des Bois," a 13th-century manuscript that chronicles the history of a Benedictine abbey in the Brittany region.
As the name spread beyond its place of origin, it underwent various spelling variations, including "Manesse," "Manés," and eventually "Maness." In the 16th century, a notable figure bearing this surname was Jean Maness, a master glassmaker from the town of Nantes, whose intricate stained glass work adorned several churches in the region.
Moving into the 17th century, historical records mention a certain Guillaume Maness, a nobleman from the village of Plouzané, who served as a captain in the French army during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648). Another individual of note was Marie-Anne Maness, a renowned author and poet born in Rennes in 1683, whose works explored themes of love, nature, and the human condition.
In the 18th century, the Maness surname gained prominence in the New World, with several individuals bearing the name arriving in the American colonies from France. One such individual was Pierre Maness, a French Huguenot who settled in South Carolina in the 1730s, where he established a successful plantation and became a prominent member of the local community.
As the 19th century dawned, the Maness family continued to leave their mark on various fields. Joseph Maness, born in 1812 in Louisiana, was a pioneering botanist who contributed significantly to the study of the flora native to the Gulf Coast region. Another notable figure was Émilie Maness, a Parisian artist born in 1845, whose impressionistic landscapes and portraits garnered widespread acclaim during her lifetime.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Maness
Among Census respondents with the surname Maness, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.8%) and Black (3.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Maness 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 Maness surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.6% · 6,623
- Two or more races3.8% · 284
- Black or African American3.7% · 278
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 216
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 38
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 37
Timeline
Historical Census data for Maness
Maness 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
#4,393
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 8,095
+30 bearers (+0.4%)
Per 100,000 2.74
Rank movement Down 343 places
2020
#4,604
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,476
-619 bearers (-7.6%)
Per 100,000 2.50
Rank movement Down 211 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #4,050 | 8,065 | 2.99 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #4,393 | 8,095 | 2.74 | +30 bearers (+0.4%) | Down 343 places |
| 2020 | #4,604 | 7,476 | 2.50 | -619 bearers (-7.6%) | Down 211 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 Maness 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 | #4,393 | #4,604 | -4.8% |
| Count | 8,095 | 7,476 | -7.6% |
| Per 100K | 2.74 | 2.50 | -8.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Maness bearers went from 8,095 to 7,476 (-7.6% change). The surname moved down 211 positions in the national ranking, going from #4,393 to #4,604.
FAQ
Maness surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Maness?
Name Census estimates that about 8,573 living Americans carry the surname Maness. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 39,981 residents.
How common is Maness?
Maness ranks #4,604 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.50 per 100,000 residents, which is about 3 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 7,476 people with the surname Maness. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (8,573), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2.5 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.50 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 3 of them to have the surname Maness.
Has Maness become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Maness went from 8,095 recorded bearers to 7,476. That is a decrease of 619 (-7.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #4,393 to #4,604.
What does the Census say about the background of Maness?
Among Census respondents with the surname Maness, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.8%) and Black (3.7%). 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 Maness in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.6% (6,623 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Maness appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (88.6%), Two or More Races (3.8%), Black (3.7%). 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 Maness (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 Maness mean?
Derived from a French place name meaning "the dwelling," likely referring to a family's location or property. 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 Maness (2.50 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 common is the surname Maness?
Find out how many people have the surname Maness on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.