2000
#6,345
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,941
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.83
Rare Last name
Perrine
A French topographic surname referring to someone living near a stony area, derived from Old French "perrin" meaning "stony".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 5,549 Americans carry the last name Perrine. That puts it at #6,704 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.62 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 61,769 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Perrine 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
5.5K
1 in 61,769
Census rank
#6,704
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
4.8K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 4,839 bearers of the surname Perrine in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.62 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 6704th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Perrine, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.0%) and Hispanic (3.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Perrine
The surname Perrine has its origins in France, where it emerged during the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old French word "perrin," which means a small pear, or the diminutive form of the name Pierre (Peter). This suggests that the name may have initially been a nickname or descriptive name given to someone with a small pear-shaped physique or someone associated with pear cultivation.
The earliest known record of the surname Perrine dates back to the 12th century in the region of Normandy, France. It appeared in the Livre des Bourgeois, a historical document that recorded the names of citizens in the city of Rouen. One of the earliest recorded individuals with this surname was Jehan Perrine, who was mentioned in the document in 1198.
In the 13th century, the name Perrine was found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive record of landowners and their holdings in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. This suggests that some individuals bearing the surname may have migrated from Normandy to England during the Norman Conquest.
The Perrine surname can be traced to various locations in France, including places like Perrine-sur-Andelle in Normandy, which may have contributed to the origins of the name. Additionally, variations in spelling, such as Perrin, Perrines, and Perrinet, were common throughout the medieval period.
Notable individuals with the surname Perrine include Étienne Perrine (1535-1599), a French mathematician and astronomer who made significant contributions to the development of trigonometry. Another prominent figure was Jean-Baptiste Perrine (1770-1846), a French general who served under Napoleon Bonaparte.
During the 17th century, the surname Perrine gained recognition with Guillaume Perrine (1612-1678), a French architect and engineer who was involved in the construction of several notable buildings in Paris, including the Church of Val-de-Grâce and the Palais du Luxembourg.
In the 19th century, Eugène Perrine (1819-1891) was a French botanist and explorer who traveled extensively in the Caribbean and played a crucial role in introducing various plant species to Florida.
One of the most famous bearers of the Perrine surname was André Perrine (1915-1986), a French painter and sculptor known for his abstract and expressionist works. His artistic contributions earned him recognition both in France and abroad.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Perrine
Among Census respondents with the surname Perrine, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.0%) and Hispanic (3.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Perrine 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 Perrine surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.9% · 4,350
- Two or more races4.0% · 192
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 179
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 55
- Black or African American1.0% · 47
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 16
Timeline
Historical Census data for Perrine
Perrine 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
#6,175
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,541
+600 bearers (+12.1%)
Per 100,000 1.88
Rank movement Up 170 places
2020
#6,704
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,839
-702 bearers (-12.7%)
Per 100,000 1.62
Rank movement Down 529 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #6,345 | 4,941 | 1.83 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #6,175 | 5,541 | 1.88 | +600 bearers (+12.1%) | Up 170 places |
| 2020 | #6,704 | 4,839 | 1.62 | -702 bearers (-12.7%) | Down 529 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 Perrine 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 | #6,175 | #6,704 | -8.6% |
| Count | 5,541 | 4,839 | -12.7% |
| Per 100K | 1.88 | 1.62 | -13.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Perrine bearers went from 5,541 to 4,839 (-12.7% change). The surname moved down 529 positions in the national ranking, going from #6,175 to #6,704.
FAQ
Perrine surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Perrine?
Name Census estimates that about 5,549 living Americans carry the surname Perrine. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 61,769 residents.
How common is Perrine?
Perrine ranks #6,704 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.62 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 4,839 people with the surname Perrine. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (5,549), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.62 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.62 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Perrine.
Has Perrine become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Perrine went from 5,541 recorded bearers to 4,839. That is a decrease of 702 (-12.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #6,175 to #6,704.
What does the Census say about the background of Perrine?
Among Census respondents with the surname Perrine, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.0%) 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 Perrine in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.9% (4,350 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Perrine appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (89.9%), Two or More Races (4.0%), 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 Perrine (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 Perrine mean?
A French topographic surname referring to someone living near a stony area, derived from Old French "perrin" meaning "stony". 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 Perrine (1.62 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 common is the surname Perrine?
See how many people have the surname Perrine on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.