2000
#1,379
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 23,575
First available Census row
Per 100,000 8.74
Uncommon Last name
Pierre
A French toponymic surname indicating someone who lived near a stone or rocky area, or a stone mason.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 44,728 Americans carry the last name Pierre. That puts it at #876 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 13.05 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 7,663 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Pierre 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 Pierre with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
45K
1 in 7,663
Census rank
#876
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
13.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
39K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 39,005 bearers of the surname Pierre in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 13.05 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 876th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Pierre, the largest self-reported group is Black at 86.2%. The next largest groups are White (6.3%) and Hispanic (3.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Pierre
The surname Pierre has its origins in France and is derived from the Old French word "pierre," meaning "stone" or "rock." This surname was likely given to someone who lived near a prominent rock formation or who worked as a stonemason or quarryman.
The name can be traced back to the Medieval period in France, with some of the earliest recorded instances appearing in the 12th and 13th centuries. For example, records from the Abbey of Saint-Denis in Paris mention a "Petrus Petri" (Peter Pierre) in 1173.
In the 13th century, the surname Pierre appeared in the famous Domesday Book, a manuscript record of landholders in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. This suggests that individuals with the surname Pierre may have traveled from France to England during the Norman Conquest.
One of the earliest known bearers of the surname Pierre was Jean Pierre, a French nobleman who lived in the 14th century. He was a prominent figure in the court of King Charles V of France and served as the Grand Chamberlain of France.
Another notable individual with the surname Pierre was François Pierre, a French architect and engineer who lived from 1616 to 1703. He is best known for his work on the Palace of Versailles and the Church of the Invalides in Paris.
In the 19th century, Isidore Pierre was a renowned French sculptor who created works such as the statue of Napoleon I in the courtyard of the Louvre Museum. He lived from 1805 to 1886.
Jean-Baptiste Pierre, born in 1833 and died in 1905, was a French painter known for his landscapes and portraits. He was a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts and received numerous awards for his work.
Pierre Curie, born in 1859 and died in 1906, was a French physicist and pioneer in the study of radioactivity. Along with his wife, Marie Curie, he won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 for their groundbreaking research on radioactivity.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Pierre
Among Census respondents with the surname Pierre, the largest self-reported group is Black at 86.2%. The next largest groups are White (6.3%) and Hispanic (3.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Pierre 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 Pierre surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American86.2% · 33,639
- White6.3% · 2,476
- Hispanic or Latino3.6% · 1,396
- Two or more races2.8% · 1,079
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 264
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 151
Timeline
Historical Census data for Pierre
Pierre 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
#1,026
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 33,913
+10,338 bearers (+43.9%)
Per 100,000 11.50
Rank movement Up 353 places
2020
#876
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 39,005
+5,092 bearers (+15.0%)
Per 100,000 13.05
Rank movement Up 150 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #1,379 | 23,575 | 8.74 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #1,026 | 33,913 | 11.50 | +10,338 bearers (+43.9%) | Up 353 places |
| 2020 | #876 | 39,005 | 13.05 | +5,092 bearers (+15.0%) | Up 150 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 Pierre 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 | #1,026 | #876 | 14.6% |
| Count | 33,913 | 39,005 | 15.0% |
| Per 100K | 11.50 | 13.05 | 13.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Pierre bearers went from 33,913 to 39,005 (+15.0% change). The surname moved up 150 positions in the national ranking, going from #1,026 to #876.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Pierre
FAQ
Pierre surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Pierre?
Name Census estimates that about 44,728 living Americans carry the surname Pierre. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 7,663 residents.
How common is Pierre?
Pierre ranks #876 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 13.05 per 100,000 residents, which is about 13 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 39,005 people with the surname Pierre. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (44,728), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 13.05 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 13.05 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 13 of them to have the surname Pierre.
Has Pierre become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Pierre went from 33,913 recorded bearers to 39,005. That is an increase of 5,092 (+15.0%). In the national ranking it rose from #1,026 to #876.
What does the Census say about the background of Pierre?
Among Census respondents with the surname Pierre, the largest self-reported group is Black at 86.2%. The next largest groups are White (6.3%) and Hispanic (3.6%). 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 Pierre in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.2% (33,639 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Pierre appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Black (86.2%), White (6.3%), Hispanic (3.6%). 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 Pierre (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 Pierre mean?
A French toponymic surname indicating someone who lived near a stone or rocky area, or a stone mason. 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 Pierre (13.05 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 are called Pierre?
Want to know how many people have the surname Pierre? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.