2000
#13,137
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,134
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.79
Rare Last name
Nott
An English habitational surname derived from a place name meaning "a rocky ridge" in Old English.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,347 Americans carry the last name Nott. That puts it at #14,087 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.68 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 146,039 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Nott 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 Nott with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
2.3K
1 in 146,039
Census rank
#14,087
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.0K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,047 bearers of the surname Nott in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.68 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 14087th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Nott, the largest self-reported group is White at 87.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.3%) and Hispanic (3.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Nott
The surname Nott is of Anglo-Saxon origin, derived from the Old English word "hnot" meaning "nut" or "nut tree." It was likely initially a descriptive nickname for someone who lived near a nut tree or grove of nut trees.
The name can be traced back to the Domesday Book of 1086, where it was recorded as "de la Notte" in Norfolk. This suggests that the name was already established in England by the time of the Norman Conquest in 1066.
One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name was Richard de la Notte, who was mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Lincolnshire in 1176. The name was also found in various other medieval records, such as the Hundred Rolls of 1273, where it appeared as "atte Notte" in Oxfordshire.
The spelling of the name evolved over time, with variants including Nott, Notte, and Nutt. It was also sometimes associated with place names like Notte in Wiltshire or Notte Sutton in Kent.
Notable individuals with the surname Nott include Sir John Nott (1751-1826), a British diplomat and politician who served as Governor of Virginia and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Netherlands. Another was Sir William Nott (1782-1845), a British Army officer who fought in the Napoleonic Wars and the First Anglo-Afghan War.
In the literary world, John Nott (1751-1826) was an English clergyman and scholar who published editions of classical works, while George Frederick Nott (1768-1841) was an English poet and playwright.
John Mercer Nott (1786-1879) was an American physician and educator who served as the third President of Union College in New York.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nott
Among Census respondents with the surname Nott, the largest self-reported group is White at 87.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.3%) and Hispanic (3.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Nott 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 Nott surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.5% · 1,791
- Two or more races5.3% · 108
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 76
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 38
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 19
- Black or African American0.7% · 15
Timeline
Historical Census data for Nott
Nott 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
#12,064
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,585
+451 bearers (+21.1%)
Per 100,000 0.88
Rank movement Up 1,073 places
2020
#14,087
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,047
-538 bearers (-20.8%)
Per 100,000 0.68
Rank movement Down 2,023 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #13,137 | 2,134 | 0.79 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #12,064 | 2,585 | 0.88 | +451 bearers (+21.1%) | Up 1,073 places |
| 2020 | #14,087 | 2,047 | 0.68 | -538 bearers (-20.8%) | Down 2,023 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 Nott 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 | #12,064 | #14,087 | -16.8% |
| Count | 2,585 | 2,047 | -20.8% |
| Per 100K | 0.88 | 0.68 | -22.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Nott bearers went from 2,585 to 2,047 (-20.8% change). The surname moved down 2,023 positions in the national ranking, going from #12,064 to #14,087.
FAQ
Nott surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Nott?
Name Census estimates that about 2,347 living Americans carry the surname Nott. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 146,039 residents.
How common is Nott?
Nott ranks #14,087 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.68 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 2,047 people with the surname Nott. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,347), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.68 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.68 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 Nott.
Has Nott become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Nott went from 2,585 recorded bearers to 2,047. That is a decrease of 538 (-20.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #12,064 to #14,087.
What does the Census say about the background of Nott?
Among Census respondents with the surname Nott, the largest self-reported group is White at 87.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.3%) and Hispanic (3.7%). 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 Nott in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.5% (1,791 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Nott appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (87.5%), Two or More Races (5.3%), Hispanic (3.7%). 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 Nott (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 Nott mean?
An English habitational surname derived from a place name meaning "a rocky ridge" in Old English. 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 Nott (0.68 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 have the last name Nott?
Find out how many Americans have the surname Nott on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.