2010
#160,975
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 100
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.03
Very Rare Last name
Pacquette
A surname derived from the French word "paquet" meaning small package or bundle.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 127 Americans carry the last name Pacquette. That puts it at #148,665 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,698,853 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Pacquette 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
127
1 in 2,698,853
Census rank
#148,665
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
111
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 111 bearers of the surname Pacquette in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 148665th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Pacquette, the largest self-reported group is Black at 49.5%. The next largest groups are White (29.7%) and Hispanic (13.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Pacquette
The surname Pacquette originated in France during the Middle Ages. It is believed to have derived from the Old French word "pacquet," meaning a small bundle or package. This likely referred to someone who worked as a packer or carried parcels for a living. Variations of the spelling include Pacquet, Paquette, and Paquette.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name appears in the 13th-century French census records, where a Jehan Paquette is listed as a resident of Normandy. The name also appears in medieval tax rolls from the Île-de-France region, indicating its prevalence in northern France during that era.
In the 16th century, a Pacquette family is recorded as residing in the village of Santenay in the Burgundy region. This may be the birthplace of Jacques Pacquette, a French explorer and fur trader who accompanied Samuel de Champlain on his expeditions to New France (now Canada) in the early 1600s.
During the 17th century, the name Pacquette became more widespread in France, with several notable individuals bearing the surname. Pierre Pacquette (1622-1701) was a French merchant and shipowner active in the transatlantic trade. Marie-Anne Pacquette (1647-1718) was a renowned painter and portraitist during the reign of Louis XIV.
As French settlers began to colonize North America, the Pacquette name traveled across the Atlantic. One of the earliest recorded instances is that of François Pacquette, who arrived in Quebec in 1663. His descendants went on to establish themselves in various parts of Canada, particularly in the provinces of Quebec and Ontario.
In the 19th century, a notable figure was Louis-Joseph Pacquette (1812-1884), a Canadian politician and businessman who served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec. Another prominent individual was Pierre-Félix Pacquette (1856-1932), a French-Canadian architect responsible for designing several landmark buildings in Montreal.
Other notable individuals with the surname Pacquette include André Pacquette (1903-1987), a French writer and poet, and Marie-Marguerite Pacquette (1918-2002), a Canadian sculptor and artist known for her work in bronze and stone.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Pacquette
Among Census respondents with the surname Pacquette, the largest self-reported group is Black at 49.5%. The next largest groups are White (29.7%) and Hispanic (13.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Pacquette 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 Pacquette surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American49.5% · 55
- White29.7% · 33
- Hispanic or Latino13.5% · 15
- Two or more races5.4% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Pacquette
Pacquette appears in 2 published Census surname files: 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2020
#148,665
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 111
+11 bearers (+11.0%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 12,310 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #160,975 | 100 | 0.03 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #148,665 | 111 | 0.04 | +11 bearers (+11.0%) | Up 12,310 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 Pacquette 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 | #160,975 | #148,665 | 7.6% |
| Count | 100 | 111 | 11.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.03 | 0.04 | 23.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Pacquette bearers went from 100 to 111 (+11.0% change). The surname moved up 12,310 positions in the national ranking, going from #160,975 to #148,665.
FAQ
Pacquette surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Pacquette?
Name Census estimates that about 127 living Americans carry the surname Pacquette. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,698,853 residents.
How common is Pacquette?
Pacquette ranks #148,665 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 111 people with the surname Pacquette. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (127), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Pacquette.
Has Pacquette become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Pacquette went from 100 recorded bearers to 111. That is an increase of 11 (+11.0%). In the national ranking it rose from #160,975 to #148,665.
What does the Census say about the background of Pacquette?
Among Census respondents with the surname Pacquette, the largest self-reported group is Black at 49.5%. The next largest groups are White (29.7%) and Hispanic (13.5%). 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 Pacquette in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.5% (55 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Pacquette appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Black (49.5%), White (29.7%), Hispanic (13.5%). 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 Pacquette (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 Pacquette mean?
A surname derived from the French word "paquet" meaning small package or bundle. 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 Pacquette (0.04 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 surname Pacquette?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.