2000
#3,506
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 9,318
First available Census row
Per 100,000 3.45
Uncommon Last name
Paquette
A French occupational surname referring to a maker or seller of bundles or packages.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 10,657 Americans carry the last name Paquette. That puts it at #3,719 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 3.11 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 32,162 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Paquette 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
11K
1 in 32,162
Census rank
#3,719
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
3.1
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
9.3K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 9,293 bearers of the surname Paquette in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 3.11 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 3719th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Paquette, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.2%) and Two or More Races (3.1%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Paquette
The surname Paquette is of French origin, deriving from the Old French word "pasque," which means Easter. It is believed to have originated in the 12th or 13th century as a nickname for someone born or baptized during the Easter season.
The name Paquette was initially found in the northern regions of France, particularly in Normandy and Picardy. It later spread to other parts of the country as people migrated. Some early variations of the spelling included Pasquet, Pascault, and Pasquette.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Paquette can be found in the Calendrier de Cambrai, a 13th-century manuscript from the city of Cambrai in northern France. The document mentions a "Jehan Paquette" who was a local resident at the time.
In the 14th century, the name Paquette appeared in the records of the Parisian tax rolls, indicating that members of the family had established themselves in the capital city. One notable bearer of the name during this period was Guillaume Paquette, a merchant and landowner who lived in Paris between 1350 and 1420.
As the name spread across France, it also found its way to the French colonies in North America. One of the earliest recorded Paquettes in Canada was Jacques Paquette, who was born in 1632 in the settlement of Trois-Rivières. His descendants went on to establish branches of the family throughout Quebec and other parts of Canada.
Another notable figure in history with the surname Paquette was Pierre-Marguerite Paquette, a French-Canadian explorer and fur trader who lived from 1698 to 1774. He was instrumental in the early exploration and mapping of the Great Lakes region and contributed significantly to the expansion of the fur trade in what is now western Ontario and the American Midwest.
In the 19th century, a French politician and journalist named Adolphe Paquette gained prominence for his role in the Paris Commune of 1871. He was born in 1831 and played an active part in the revolutionary government that briefly ruled Paris before being suppressed by the French national authorities.
While the surname Paquette is most commonly associated with France and French-speaking regions, it has also been adopted by families in other parts of the world, particularly in areas with a significant French cultural influence or history of French settlement.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Paquette
Among Census respondents with the surname Paquette, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.2%) and Two or More Races (3.1%).
The bar chart below shows how Paquette 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 Paquette surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.9% · 8,538
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 294
- Two or more races3.1% · 289
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 67
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 61
- Black or African American0.5% · 44
Timeline
Historical Census data for Paquette
Paquette 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
#3,699
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 9,606
+288 bearers (+3.1%)
Per 100,000 3.26
Rank movement Down 193 places
2020
#3,719
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 9,293
-313 bearers (-3.3%)
Per 100,000 3.11
Rank movement Down 20 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #3,506 | 9,318 | 3.45 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #3,699 | 9,606 | 3.26 | +288 bearers (+3.1%) | Down 193 places |
| 2020 | #3,719 | 9,293 | 3.11 | -313 bearers (-3.3%) | Down 20 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 Paquette 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 | #3,699 | #3,719 | -0.5% |
| Count | 9,606 | 9,293 | -3.3% |
| Per 100K | 3.26 | 3.11 | -4.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Paquette bearers went from 9,606 to 9,293 (-3.3% change). The surname moved down 20 positions in the national ranking, going from #3,699 to #3,719.
FAQ
Paquette surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Paquette?
Name Census estimates that about 10,657 living Americans carry the surname Paquette. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 32,162 residents.
How common is Paquette?
Paquette ranks #3,719 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 3.11 per 100,000 residents, which is about 3 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 9,293 people with the surname Paquette. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (10,657), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 3.11 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 3.11 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 3 of them to have the surname Paquette.
Has Paquette become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Paquette went from 9,606 recorded bearers to 9,293. That is a decrease of 313 (-3.3%). In the national ranking it fell from #3,699 to #3,719.
What does the Census say about the background of Paquette?
Among Census respondents with the surname Paquette, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.2%) and Two or More Races (3.1%). 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 Paquette in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.9% (8,538 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Paquette appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (91.9%), Hispanic (3.2%), Two or More Races (3.1%). 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 Paquette (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 Paquette mean?
A French occupational surname referring to a maker or seller of bundles or packages. 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 Paquette (3.11 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 Paquette?
Want to know how many people are called Paquette? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.