2000
#3,692
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 8,828
First available Census row
Per 100,000 3.27
Rare Last name
Pickard
An occupational surname for someone who collected taxes or tolls, or a maker of picks and pickaxes.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 9,629 Americans carry the last name Pickard. That puts it at #4,100 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.81 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 35,596 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Pickard 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.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Pickard with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
9.6K
1 in 35,596
Census rank
#4,100
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
8.4K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 8,397 bearers of the surname Pickard in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.81 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 4100th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Pickard, the largest self-reported group is White at 85.7%. The next largest groups are Black (6.0%) and Two or More Races (3.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Pickard
The surname Pickard is of English origin, derived from the Old French word "piquier," meaning "pikeman" or "pike-bearer." This occupation-based surname emerged during the medieval period, when soldiers specialized in using the pike, a long, heavy wooden shaft with a pointed metal tip, as their primary weapon on the battlefield.
The name Pickard can be traced back to the 13th century in various regions of England, particularly in the counties of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and Nottinghamshire. It is believed that the earliest bearers of this name were individuals who served as pikemen in the armies of local lords or in the service of the Crown.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Pickard can be found in the Hundred Rolls of Lincolnshire, a collection of records from the late 13th century. In this document, a certain Robert le Pykard is listed as a resident of the village of Grantham.
In the 14th century, the Pickard surname appeared in the Court Rolls of the Manor of Wakefield in Yorkshire, where a John Pycard is mentioned as a tenant in the year 1348. This record provides evidence of the name's presence in the northern regions of England during the medieval era.
Notable individuals bearing the Pickard surname throughout history include:
1. William Pickard (c. 1516 - 1575), an English churchman who served as the Archdeacon of Bedford from 1565 until his death.
2. John Pickard (1738 - 1805), a renowned English engraver and portraitist known for his work in mezzotint, a printing technique using a copper plate.
3. Benjamin Pickard (1842 - 1904), an American businessman and philanthropist from Massachusetts, who co-founded the Pickard China Company, a notable manufacturer of fine china and porcelain.
4. Samuel Thomas Pickard (1828 - 1915), a British architect and surveyor who designed several notable buildings in London, including the Royal College of Music and the Church of St. Mary Abbots in Kensington.
5. Jane Pickard (1901 - 1986), an American author and playwright best known for her novel "The Weissmanns of Westport," which explored themes of family dynamics and Jewish-American identity.
Over time, the surname Pickard has undergone various spelling variations, such as Picard, Pickard, Pickarde, and Pycard, reflecting the fluidity of English orthography and regional dialects. Additionally, the name has been associated with various place names in England, such as Pickard's Leys in Nottinghamshire and Pickard's Croft in Yorkshire, further reinforcing its historical roots in the region.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Pickard
Among Census respondents with the surname Pickard, the largest self-reported group is White at 85.7%. The next largest groups are Black (6.0%) and Two or More Races (3.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Pickard 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 Pickard surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.7% · 7,193
- Black or African American6.0% · 501
- Two or more races3.7% · 314
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 277
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 63
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 49
Timeline
Historical Census data for Pickard
Pickard 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
#3,928
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 9,053
+225 bearers (+2.5%)
Per 100,000 3.07
Rank movement Down 236 places
2020
#4,100
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 8,397
-656 bearers (-7.2%)
Per 100,000 2.81
Rank movement Down 172 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #3,692 | 8,828 | 3.27 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #3,928 | 9,053 | 3.07 | +225 bearers (+2.5%) | Down 236 places |
| 2020 | #4,100 | 8,397 | 2.81 | -656 bearers (-7.2%) | Down 172 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 Pickard 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 | #3,928 | #4,100 | -4.4% |
| Count | 9,053 | 8,397 | -7.2% |
| Per 100K | 3.07 | 2.81 | -8.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Pickard bearers went from 9,053 to 8,397 (-7.2% change). The surname moved down 172 positions in the national ranking, going from #3,928 to #4,100.
FAQ
Pickard surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Pickard?
Name Census estimates that about 9,629 living Americans carry the surname Pickard. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 35,596 residents.
How common is Pickard?
Pickard ranks #4,100 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.81 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 8,397 people with the surname Pickard. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (9,629), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2.81 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.81 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 Pickard.
Has Pickard become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Pickard went from 9,053 recorded bearers to 8,397. That is a decrease of 656 (-7.2%). In the national ranking it fell from #3,928 to #4,100.
What does the Census say about the background of Pickard?
Among Census respondents with the surname Pickard, the largest self-reported group is White at 85.7%. The next largest groups are Black (6.0%) and Two or More Races (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 Pickard in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.7% (7,193 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Pickard appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (85.7%), Black (6.0%), Two or More Races (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 Pickard (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 Pickard mean?
An occupational surname for someone who collected taxes or tolls, or a maker of picks and pickaxes. 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 Pickard (2.81 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 Pickard?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.