2000
#120,330
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 133
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.05
Very Rare Last name
Masengill
A locational surname originating from a place in Normandy, France.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 136 Americans carry the last name Masengill. That puts it at #142,788 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,520,252 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Masengill 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
136
1 in 2,520,252
Census rank
#142,788
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
119
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 119 bearers of the surname Masengill in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 142788th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Masengill, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.3%. The next largest groups are Black (4.2%) and Hispanic (2.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Masengill
The surname Masengill is of English origin and dates back to the late medieval period. It is believed to have originated in the county of Nottinghamshire, England, where it was likely derived from a place name or topographic feature. One possible explanation is that it comes from the Old English words "maese" meaning "meadow" and "ing" meaning "meadow dwellers," suggesting that the earliest bearers of this name lived near a grassy meadow.
Another theory traces the name to the village of Massingham in Norfolk, which was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Massingeham." This indicates that the Masengill surname may have emerged as a locational name for people who hailed from this particular settlement.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the Masengill surname appears in the Pipe Rolls of Nottinghamshire in 1191, where a person named William de Masingeham is mentioned. This spelling variation provides further evidence of the name's connection to the place name Massingham.
In the 14th century, records show a Richard de Masenghyll living in Yorkshire, indicating that the name had spread to other parts of England by that time. Additionally, the surname is found in various historical documents, such as parish registers and tax records, with spellings like Masingill, Masengyll, and Massengill.
Notable historical figures bearing the Masengill surname include:
1. John Masengill (c. 1670-1740), an early settler in Virginia who established a plantation in the Shenandoah Valley.
2. Thomas Masengill (1755-1834), an American Revolutionary War soldier from North Carolina.
3. William Masengill (1783-1865), a farmer and landowner in Tennessee who served in the War of 1812.
4. Margaret Masengill (1817-1895), an influential Quaker minister and abolitionist from Indiana.
5. James Masengill (1846-1928), a businessman and politician who served as the Mayor of Bristol, Tennessee, in the late 19th century.
While the Masengill surname has its roots in England, it eventually spread to various parts of the world, including the United States, Canada, and Australia, as people with this name migrated and established new communities.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Masengill
Among Census respondents with the surname Masengill, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.3%. The next largest groups are Black (4.2%) and Hispanic (2.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Masengill 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 Masengill surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.3% · 111
- Black or African American4.2% · 5
- Hispanic or Latino2.5% · 3
Timeline
Historical Census data for Masengill
Masengill 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
#140,157
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 119
-14 bearers (-10.5%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 19,827 places
2020
#142,788
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 119
+0 bearers (+0.0%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 2,631 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #120,330 | 133 | 0.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #140,157 | 119 | 0.04 | -14 bearers (-10.5%) | Down 19,827 places |
| 2020 | #142,788 | 119 | 0.04 | +0 bearers (+0.0%) | Down 2,631 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 Masengill 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 | #140,157 | #142,788 | -1.9% |
| Count | 119 | 119 | 0.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -0.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Masengill bearers went from 119 to 119 (+0.0% change). The surname moved down 2,631 positions in the national ranking, going from #140,157 to #142,788.
FAQ
Masengill surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Masengill?
Name Census estimates that about 136 living Americans carry the surname Masengill. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,520,252 residents.
How common is Masengill?
Masengill ranks #142,788 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 119 people with the surname Masengill. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (136), 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 Masengill.
Has Masengill become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Masengill went from 119 recorded bearers to 119. That is an increase of 0 (+0.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #140,157 to #142,788.
What does the Census say about the background of Masengill?
Among Census respondents with the surname Masengill, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.3%. The next largest groups are Black (4.2%) and Hispanic (2.5%). 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 Masengill in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.3% (111 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Masengill appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.3%), Black (4.2%), Hispanic (2.5%). 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 Masengill (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 Masengill mean?
A locational surname originating from a place in Normandy, France. 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 Masengill (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 share the surname Masengill?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.