2000
#6,931
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,463
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.65
Rare Last name
Merriweather
A locational surname referring to someone who lived near a pleasant or merry spring or stream.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 5,338 Americans carry the last name Merriweather. That puts it at #6,958 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.56 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 64,210 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Merriweather 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
5.3K
1 in 64,210
Census rank
#6,958
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
4.7K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 4,655 bearers of the surname Merriweather in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.56 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 6958th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Merriweather, the largest self-reported group is Black at 84.4%. The next largest groups are White (6.2%) and Two or More Races (6.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Merriweather
The surname Merriweather is of English origin, deriving from the Old English words "myrige" meaning "pleasant" and "wæther" meaning "climate" or "weather". It was initially a descriptive surname, referring to someone who lived in an area with a pleasant climate or weather conditions.
The name can be traced back to the 13th century in England, with early recorded variations including Merryweather, Merriwether, and Meryweder. Some of the earliest known references to the name appear in historical records such as the Hundred Rolls of Cambridgeshire from 1273, which mentions a Johannes Meryweder.
During the medieval period, the surname Merriweather was particularly prevalent in the counties of Warwickshire, Staffordshire, and Worcestershire in the West Midlands region of England. It was also found in parts of Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire.
One notable early bearer of the name was Thomas Merriweather, a merchant and landowner from Warwickshire, who lived in the late 16th century. Another was John Merriweather, a member of the Virginia Company of London, who was involved in the early colonization efforts in North America in the early 17th century.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, the surname Merriweather began to spread more widely across England and into other parts of the British Isles. Some bearers of the name were among the earliest settlers in the American colonies, including Thomas Merriweather, who arrived in Virginia in 1635, and David Merriweather, who settled in Pennsylvania in 1683.
Throughout history, several individuals with the surname Merriweather have achieved prominence in various fields. These include:
1. Edward Merriweather (c. 1630-1678), an English politician and Member of Parliament for Southwark.
2. Richard Merriweather (1670-1743), a British naval officer and colonial administrator who served as the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia.
3. David Merriweather (1786-1852), an American politician and jurist who served as the 13th Governor of Kentucky.
4. James Merriweather (1789-1868), an American soldier and politician who served as a U.S. Congressman from Georgia.
5. Charles Merriweather (1853-1925), an American architect who designed several notable buildings in New York City and Washington, D.C.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Merriweather
Among Census respondents with the surname Merriweather, the largest self-reported group is Black at 84.4%. The next largest groups are White (6.2%) and Two or More Races (6.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Merriweather 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 Merriweather surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American84.4% · 3,927
- White6.2% · 290
- Two or more races6.2% · 288
- Hispanic or Latino2.6% · 121
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 24
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 5
Timeline
Historical Census data for Merriweather
Merriweather 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
#6,989
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,793
+330 bearers (+7.4%)
Per 100,000 1.62
Rank movement Down 58 places
2020
#6,958
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,655
-138 bearers (-2.9%)
Per 100,000 1.56
Rank movement Up 31 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #6,931 | 4,463 | 1.65 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #6,989 | 4,793 | 1.62 | +330 bearers (+7.4%) | Down 58 places |
| 2020 | #6,958 | 4,655 | 1.56 | -138 bearers (-2.9%) | Up 31 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 Merriweather 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 | #6,989 | #6,958 | 0.4% |
| Count | 4,793 | 4,655 | -2.9% |
| Per 100K | 1.62 | 1.56 | -3.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Merriweather bearers went from 4,793 to 4,655 (-2.9% change). The surname moved up 31 positions in the national ranking, going from #6,989 to #6,958.
FAQ
Merriweather surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Merriweather?
Name Census estimates that about 5,338 living Americans carry the surname Merriweather. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 64,210 residents.
How common is Merriweather?
Merriweather ranks #6,958 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.56 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 4,655 people with the surname Merriweather. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (5,338), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.56 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.56 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Merriweather.
Has Merriweather become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Merriweather went from 4,793 recorded bearers to 4,655. That is a decrease of 138 (-2.9%). In the national ranking it rose from #6,989 to #6,958.
What does the Census say about the background of Merriweather?
Among Census respondents with the surname Merriweather, the largest self-reported group is Black at 84.4%. The next largest groups are White (6.2%) and Two or More Races (6.2%). 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?
Black is the largest self-reported group for the surname Merriweather in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.4% (3,927 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Merriweather appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Black (84.4%), White (6.2%), Two or More Races (6.2%). 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 Merriweather (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 Merriweather mean?
A locational surname referring to someone who lived near a pleasant or merry spring or stream. 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 Merriweather (1.56 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 Merriweather?
See how many Americans have the surname Merriweather on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.