2000
#8,490
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,574
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.32
Rare Last name
Maurice
Derived from the Latin name Mauritius, meaning "dark-skinned," likely referring to someone with a darker complexion or from Mauritania.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 4,379 Americans carry the last name Maurice. That puts it at #8,307 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.28 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 78,272 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Maurice 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 Maurice with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
4.4K
1 in 78,272
Census rank
#8,307
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.3
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
3.8K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 3,819 bearers of the surname Maurice in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.28 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 8307th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Maurice, the largest self-reported group is White at 58.7%. The next largest groups are Black (30.8%) and Hispanic (4.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Maurice
The surname MAURICE is believed to have originated in France, deriving from the Roman personal name Mauritius. This name was derived from the Latin word "Maurus," meaning "Moorish" or "dark-skinned." The name gained popularity during the medieval period, particularly in northern France.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the MAURICE surname can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as "Moricius" and "Morice." The name was associated with individuals who may have had darker complexions or connections to the Moorish people of North Africa.
In the 12th century, the surname MAURICE appeared in various records across France, including charters and tax rolls. Notably, a knight named Maurice de Berkeley was mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire in 1165.
During the 13th century, the MAURICE surname began to spread across Europe, with variations such as "Morice," "Moritz," and "Morys" appearing in historical documents from England, Germany, and other regions.
Some notable individuals with the surname MAURICE throughout history include:
1. Maurice de Sully (c. 1120-1196), a French churchman who served as the Bishop of Paris and oversaw the construction of the famous Notre-Dame Cathedral.
2. Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange (1567-1625), a prominent Dutch military leader and statesman during the Eighty Years' War against Spain.
3. Maurice Ravel (1875-1937), a French composer known for his orchestral works, such as "Boléro" and "Daphnis et Chloé."
4. Maurice Maeterlinck (1862-1949), a Belgian playwright and poet who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911.
5. Maurice Wilkins (1916-2004), a New Zealand-born British biophysicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1962 for his contributions to the discovery of the structure of DNA.
The MAURICE surname has also been associated with various place names, such as Mauriceville in Texas, United States, and Mauricetown in New Jersey, further reflecting the historic prevalence of this name across different regions.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Maurice
Among Census respondents with the surname Maurice, the largest self-reported group is White at 58.7%. The next largest groups are Black (30.8%) and Hispanic (4.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Maurice 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 Maurice surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White58.7% · 2,240
- Black or African American30.8% · 1,177
- Hispanic or Latino4.5% · 171
- Two or more races4.3% · 166
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 52
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 13
Timeline
Historical Census data for Maurice
Maurice 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
#8,430
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,919
+345 bearers (+9.7%)
Per 100,000 1.33
Rank movement Up 60 places
2020
#8,307
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,819
-100 bearers (-2.6%)
Per 100,000 1.28
Rank movement Up 123 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #8,490 | 3,574 | 1.32 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #8,430 | 3,919 | 1.33 | +345 bearers (+9.7%) | Up 60 places |
| 2020 | #8,307 | 3,819 | 1.28 | -100 bearers (-2.6%) | Up 123 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 Maurice 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 | #8,430 | #8,307 | 1.5% |
| Count | 3,919 | 3,819 | -2.6% |
| Per 100K | 1.33 | 1.28 | -3.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Maurice bearers went from 3,919 to 3,819 (-2.6% change). The surname moved up 123 positions in the national ranking, going from #8,430 to #8,307.
FAQ
Maurice surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Maurice?
Name Census estimates that about 4,379 living Americans carry the surname Maurice. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 78,272 residents.
How common is Maurice?
Maurice ranks #8,307 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.28 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 3,819 people with the surname Maurice. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (4,379), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.28 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.28 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Maurice.
Has Maurice become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Maurice went from 3,919 recorded bearers to 3,819. That is a decrease of 100 (-2.6%). In the national ranking it rose from #8,430 to #8,307.
What does the Census say about the background of Maurice?
Among Census respondents with the surname Maurice, the largest self-reported group is White at 58.7%. The next largest groups are Black (30.8%) and Hispanic (4.5%). 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 Maurice in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.7% (2,240 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Maurice appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (58.7%), Black (30.8%), Hispanic (4.5%). 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 Maurice (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 Maurice mean?
Derived from the Latin name Mauritius, meaning "dark-skinned," likely referring to someone with a darker complexion or from Mauritania. 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 Maurice (1.28 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 Maurice?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.