2000
#10,543
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,791
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.03
Rare Last name
Offutt
Derived from a place name meaning "off the road" in Old English, referring to a person who lived there.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,126 Americans carry the last name Offutt. That puts it at #11,111 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.91 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 109,646 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Offutt 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
3.1K
1 in 109,646
Census rank
#11,111
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.7K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,726 bearers of the surname Offutt in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.91 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 11111th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Offutt, the largest self-reported group is White at 72.5%. The next largest groups are Black (17.7%) and Two or More Races (4.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Offutt
The surname Offutt is thought to have originated in England during the late medieval period. It is believed to be a locational name derived from a place called "Offutt" or a similar variation, likely referring to a homestead or small village. The name may have evolved from an Old English or Anglo-Saxon word such as "offa" or "offa's hut," suggesting a connection to a person named Offa who owned or lived in a particular dwelling.
Some of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in various historical documents and records from the 16th and 17th centuries. For example, the Offutt family is mentioned in the Subsidy Rolls of Staffordshire in 1524, suggesting their presence in that region during that time period. There are also references to individuals with the Offutt surname in parish records from counties like Derbyshire and Leicestershire from the late 1500s and early 1600s.
One notable early bearer of the name was John Offutt, who was born in Derbyshire, England, in 1620. He later emigrated to the American colonies, settling in Maryland in the mid-17th century. His descendants went on to establish themselves throughout various parts of the United States, contributing to the spread and propagation of the Offutt name in the New World.
Another prominent figure was Sir Thomas Offutt, a wealthy English landowner and merchant who lived in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. He owned vast estates in Gloucestershire and was known for his philanthropic efforts, including the establishment of a charitable trust that supported local schools and churches.
In the 19th century, there was a notable Offutt family from Virginia, with members such as William Offutt (1786-1864), a successful farmer and landowner, and his son, James Offutt (1819-1891), who served as a colonel in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War.
Other historical figures with the Offutt surname include the author and poet Elizabeth Offutt (1845-1922), who was born in Kentucky and published several collections of poetry and short stories, as well as John Offutt (1875-1947), a British politician and Member of Parliament for the Labour Party in the early 20th century.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Offutt
Among Census respondents with the surname Offutt, the largest self-reported group is White at 72.5%. The next largest groups are Black (17.7%) and Two or More Races (4.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Offutt 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 Offutt surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White72.5% · 1,976
- Black or African American17.7% · 482
- Two or more races4.9% · 133
- Hispanic or Latino4.0% · 110
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 10
Timeline
Historical Census data for Offutt
Offutt 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
#10,983
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,896
+105 bearers (+3.8%)
Per 100,000 0.98
Rank movement Down 440 places
2020
#11,111
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,726
-170 bearers (-5.9%)
Per 100,000 0.91
Rank movement Down 128 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #10,543 | 2,791 | 1.03 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #10,983 | 2,896 | 0.98 | +105 bearers (+3.8%) | Down 440 places |
| 2020 | #11,111 | 2,726 | 0.91 | -170 bearers (-5.9%) | Down 128 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 Offutt 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 | #10,983 | #11,111 | -1.2% |
| Count | 2,896 | 2,726 | -5.9% |
| Per 100K | 0.98 | 0.91 | -6.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Offutt bearers went from 2,896 to 2,726 (-5.9% change). The surname moved down 128 positions in the national ranking, going from #10,983 to #11,111.
FAQ
Offutt surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Offutt?
Name Census estimates that about 3,126 living Americans carry the surname Offutt. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 109,646 residents.
How common is Offutt?
Offutt ranks #11,111 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.91 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 2,726 people with the surname Offutt. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,126), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.91 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.91 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 Offutt.
Has Offutt become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Offutt went from 2,896 recorded bearers to 2,726. That is a decrease of 170 (-5.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #10,983 to #11,111.
What does the Census say about the background of Offutt?
Among Census respondents with the surname Offutt, the largest self-reported group is White at 72.5%. The next largest groups are Black (17.7%) and Two or More Races (4.9%). 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 Offutt in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.5% (1,976 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Offutt appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (72.5%), Black (17.7%), Two or More Races (4.9%). 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 Offutt (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 Offutt mean?
Derived from a place name meaning "off the road" in Old English, referring to a person who lived there. 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 Offutt (0.91 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 Offutt?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.