2000
#1,381
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 23,540
First available Census row
Per 100,000 8.73
Uncommon Last name
Metcalf
An occupational surname for someone who worked as a harvester or mower of hay or grass.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 26,656 Americans carry the last name Metcalf. That puts it at #1,499 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 7.78 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 12,858 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Metcalf 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 Metcalf with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
27K
1 in 12,858
Census rank
#1,499
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
7.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
23K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 23,245 bearers of the surname Metcalf in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 7.78 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 1499th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Metcalf, the largest self-reported group is White at 83.5%. The next largest groups are Black (7.8%) and Two or More Races (4.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Metcalf
The surname Metcalf is of English origin, derived from the Old English words "mete" meaning food and "calf" meaning a small meadow or enclosure. It was originally an occupational name for someone who owned or worked on a farm or meadow where cattle were kept.
The name can be traced back to the 12th century, with early recordings including Willelmus Metecalfe in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire in 1190 and Gilbert Metcalfe in the Assize Court Rolls of Lancashire in 1246. It was particularly prevalent in the northern counties of England, such as Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Westmorland.
In the Domesday Book of 1086, a record of landowners in England, there are several listings of places with names similar to Metcalf, such as Metecalvefeld and Metecalefeld, which may have been the origin of some early bearers of the name.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Sir Thomas Metcalfe (c. 1390-1473), a Member of Parliament for Yorkshire in the 15th century. Another notable figure was Roger Metcalf (c. 1520-1616), an English clergyman and playwright who wrote several plays performed at the court of Queen Elizabeth I.
In the 17th century, John Metcalf (1717-1810), known as "Blind Jack of Knaresborough", was a remarkable road builder and engineer who constructed several roads and bridges in Yorkshire despite being blind from childhood.
Other notable individuals with the surname include James Metcalf (1789-1846), an English actor and theatre manager, and Sir Charles Metcalfe (1785-1846), a British colonial administrator who served as Governor-General of India from 1835 to 1836.
The surname Metcalf has also been found in various spellings over the centuries, including Metcalfe, Metcalf, Mettcalfe, and Mettcalf, reflecting the changing pronunciations and regional variations in different parts of England.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Metcalf
Among Census respondents with the surname Metcalf, the largest self-reported group is White at 83.5%. The next largest groups are Black (7.8%) and Two or More Races (4.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Metcalf 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 Metcalf surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.5% · 19,399
- Black or African American7.8% · 1,808
- Two or more races4.3% · 992
- Hispanic or Latino3.0% · 689
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 195
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 162
Timeline
Historical Census data for Metcalf
Metcalf 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
#1,494
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 23,946
+406 bearers (+1.7%)
Per 100,000 8.12
Rank movement Down 113 places
2020
#1,499
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 23,245
-701 bearers (-2.9%)
Per 100,000 7.78
Rank movement Down 5 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #1,381 | 23,540 | 8.73 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #1,494 | 23,946 | 8.12 | +406 bearers (+1.7%) | Down 113 places |
| 2020 | #1,499 | 23,245 | 7.78 | -701 bearers (-2.9%) | Down 5 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 Metcalf 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 | #1,494 | #1,499 | -0.3% |
| Count | 23,946 | 23,245 | -2.9% |
| Per 100K | 8.12 | 7.78 | -4.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Metcalf bearers went from 23,946 to 23,245 (-2.9% change). The surname moved down 5 positions in the national ranking, going from #1,494 to #1,499.
FAQ
Metcalf surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Metcalf?
Name Census estimates that about 26,656 living Americans carry the surname Metcalf. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 12,858 residents.
How common is Metcalf?
Metcalf ranks #1,499 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 7.78 per 100,000 residents, which is about 8 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 23,245 people with the surname Metcalf. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (26,656), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 7.78 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 7.78 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 8 of them to have the surname Metcalf.
Has Metcalf become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Metcalf went from 23,946 recorded bearers to 23,245. That is a decrease of 701 (-2.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #1,494 to #1,499.
What does the Census say about the background of Metcalf?
Among Census respondents with the surname Metcalf, the largest self-reported group is White at 83.5%. The next largest groups are Black (7.8%) and Two or More Races (4.3%). 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 Metcalf in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.5% (19,399 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Metcalf appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (83.5%), Black (7.8%), Two or More Races (4.3%). 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 Metcalf (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 Metcalf mean?
An occupational surname for someone who worked as a harvester or mower of hay or grass. 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 Metcalf (7.78 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 Metcalf?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.