2000
#2,780
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 11,931
First available Census row
Per 100,000 4.42
Uncommon Last name
Nadeau
A French topographic surname referring to someone living near a stand of bushes or a thicket.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 13,327 Americans carry the last name Nadeau. That puts it at #3,024 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 3.89 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 25,719 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Nadeau 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
13K
1 in 25,719
Census rank
#3,024
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
3.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
12K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 11,622 bearers of the surname Nadeau in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 3.89 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 3024th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Nadeau, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.6%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (2.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Nadeau
The surname Nadeau originated in France and is derived from the French word "nadeau" which means a small pond or pool of water. This name was likely given as a descriptive surname to someone who lived near a small body of water.
The earliest recorded examples of the Nadeau surname date back to the 17th century in the region of Poitou-Charentes in western France. Some of the earliest spellings of the name include Nadau, Nadeaux, and Naudeau.
In 1696, the name Nadeau appeared in a census record of the French colony of Acadia, which is now part of eastern Canada. This suggests that some of the earliest bearers of the Nadeau name were among the French settlers in North America.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the surname Nadeau was Jacques Nadeau, who was born in 1635 in the town of Maillezais, Vendée, France. He later immigrated to Acadia and is considered one of the founding families of the Acadian people.
Another notable individual with the Nadeau surname was Pierre Nadeau, a French-Canadian painter who lived from 1742 to 1812. He is known for his religious paintings and portraits, many of which can be found in churches and museums throughout Quebec.
In the 19th century, Joseph Nadeau (1818-1892) was a prominent French-Canadian businessman and politician who served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec.
Émile Nadeau (1893-1981) was a French-Canadian lawyer and politician who served as a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of Canada from 1940 to 1958.
Gilles Nadeau (born 1956) is a contemporary Canadian historian and author who has written extensively on the history and culture of the Acadian people.
Throughout its history, the Nadeau surname has been closely associated with the French-Canadian and Acadian communities, particularly in eastern Canada and the northeastern United States.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nadeau
Among Census respondents with the surname Nadeau, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.6%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (2.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Nadeau 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 Nadeau surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.4% · 10,512
- Two or more races3.6% · 421
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.6% · 300
- Hispanic or Latino2.4% · 279
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 72
- Black or African American0.3% · 38
Timeline
Historical Census data for Nadeau
Nadeau 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
#2,929
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 12,236
+305 bearers (+2.6%)
Per 100,000 4.15
Rank movement Down 149 places
2020
#3,024
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 11,622
-614 bearers (-5.0%)
Per 100,000 3.89
Rank movement Down 95 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #2,780 | 11,931 | 4.42 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #2,929 | 12,236 | 4.15 | +305 bearers (+2.6%) | Down 149 places |
| 2020 | #3,024 | 11,622 | 3.89 | -614 bearers (-5.0%) | Down 95 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 Nadeau 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 | #2,929 | #3,024 | -3.2% |
| Count | 12,236 | 11,622 | -5.0% |
| Per 100K | 4.15 | 3.89 | -6.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Nadeau bearers went from 12,236 to 11,622 (-5.0% change). The surname moved down 95 positions in the national ranking, going from #2,929 to #3,024.
FAQ
Nadeau surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Nadeau?
Name Census estimates that about 13,327 living Americans carry the surname Nadeau. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 25,719 residents.
How common is Nadeau?
Nadeau ranks #3,024 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 3.89 per 100,000 residents, which is about 4 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 11,622 people with the surname Nadeau. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (13,327), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 3.89 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 3.89 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 4 of them to have the surname Nadeau.
Has Nadeau become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Nadeau went from 12,236 recorded bearers to 11,622. That is a decrease of 614 (-5.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #2,929 to #3,024.
What does the Census say about the background of Nadeau?
Among Census respondents with the surname Nadeau, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.6%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (2.6%). 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 Nadeau in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.4% (10,512 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Nadeau appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (90.4%), Two or More Races (3.6%), American Indian/Alaska Native (2.6%). 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 Nadeau (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 Nadeau mean?
A French topographic surname referring to someone living near a stand of bushes or a thicket. 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 Nadeau (3.89 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 Nadeau?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.