2010
#146,201
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 113
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Pegue
A surname indicating the bearer had some connection to fishing or catching prey.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 122 Americans carry the last name Pegue. That puts it at #152,339 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,809,462 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Pegue 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
122
1 in 2,809,462
Census rank
#152,339
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
106
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 106 bearers of the surname Pegue in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 152339th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Pegue, the largest self-reported group is Black at 68.9%. The next largest groups are White (23.6%) and Two or More Races (3.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Pegue
The surname Pegue is believed to have originated in Spain, with its roots traced back to the region of Galicia in the northwestern part of the country. The earliest known written records of the name date back to the 12th century.
Pegue is thought to be derived from the Galician word "pega," which means "pitch" or "tar." This suggests that the name may have originally been an occupational surname associated with those who worked with tar or pitch, such as shipbuilders, roofers, or those involved in the production of tar-based products.
In the 14th century, a document from the city of Pontevedra in Galicia mentions a person named Rodrigo Pegue, who is believed to be one of the earliest recorded individuals with this surname. Another early reference can be found in the records of the Monastery of San Martín Pinario in Santiago de Compostela, where a certain Pedro Pegue is mentioned as a landowner in the late 15th century.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the name Pegue began to spread beyond Galicia to other parts of Spain, as well as to the Spanish colonies in the Americas. Notable individuals with this surname from this period include Juan Pegue, a Spanish explorer who accompanied Hernán Cortés in the conquest of Mexico in the early 1500s, and Catalina Pegue, a landowner in the Spanish colony of Cuba in the late 1600s.
In the 18th century, the name Pegue can be found in various historical records from Spain and its colonies, such as the baptismal records of the Cathedral of Seville, where a child named María Pegue was baptized in 1725. Another notable figure from this time is Tomás Pegue, a Spanish military officer who served in the Spanish American War of Independence in the early 1800s.
As the Spanish Empire expanded, the Pegue surname also spread to other parts of the world, including the Philippines, where a prominent family with this name can be traced back to the late 1700s. In the 19th century, there are records of individuals with the surname Pegue in various parts of Latin America, such as Argentina and Mexico.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Pegue
Among Census respondents with the surname Pegue, the largest self-reported group is Black at 68.9%. The next largest groups are White (23.6%) and Two or More Races (3.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Pegue 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 Pegue surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American68.9% · 73
- White23.6% · 25
- Two or more races3.8% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.9% · 2
- Hispanic or Latino0.9% · 1
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Pegue
Pegue 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
#152,339
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 106
-7 bearers (-6.2%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 6,138 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #146,201 | 113 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #152,339 | 106 | 0.04 | -7 bearers (-6.2%) | Down 6,138 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 Pegue 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 | #146,201 | #152,339 | -4.2% |
| Count | 113 | 106 | -6.2% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -11.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Pegue bearers went from 113 to 106 (-6.2% change). The surname moved down 6,138 positions in the national ranking, going from #146,201 to #152,339.
FAQ
Pegue surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Pegue?
Name Census estimates that about 122 living Americans carry the surname Pegue. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,809,462 residents.
How common is Pegue?
Pegue ranks #152,339 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 106 people with the surname Pegue. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (122), 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 Pegue.
Has Pegue become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Pegue went from 113 recorded bearers to 106. That is a decrease of 7 (-6.2%). In the national ranking it fell from #146,201 to #152,339.
What does the Census say about the background of Pegue?
Among Census respondents with the surname Pegue, the largest self-reported group is Black at 68.9%. The next largest groups are White (23.6%) and Two or More Races (3.8%). 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 Pegue in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.9% (73 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Pegue appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Black (68.9%), White (23.6%), Two or More Races (3.8%). 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 Pegue (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 Pegue mean?
A surname indicating the bearer had some connection to fishing or catching prey. 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 Pegue (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 Pegue?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.