2000
#5,213
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,157
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.28
Rare Last name
Pilgrim
A surname referring to a person who had traveled to the Holy Land or other sacred places.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 6,720 Americans carry the last name Pilgrim. That puts it at #5,697 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.96 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 51,005 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Pilgrim 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 Pilgrim with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
6.7K
1 in 51,005
Census rank
#5,697
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
5.9K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 5,860 bearers of the surname Pilgrim in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.96 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 5697th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Pilgrim, the largest self-reported group is White at 71.6%. The next largest groups are Black (19.0%) and Two or More Races (4.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Pilgrim
The surname Pilgrim originated in England during the Middle Ages. It derives from the Old English word "pil(e)grim," which referred to someone who had been on a pilgrimage, often to religious sites like Canterbury or Rome. The name likely developed as a way to identify individuals who had completed these spiritual journeys.
Many early instances of the name can be found in medieval records and documents. For example, a Robert Pelegrim is mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Northamptonshire in 1202. The surname also appears in the Hundred Rolls of 1273, which recorded landowners in various English counties.
One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name was John Pilgrim, born around 1350 in Norfolkshire. He was a merchant and landowner who is mentioned in several court records from the late 14th century. Another early bearer was Walter Pylgryme, born circa 1410 in Kent, who served as a messenger for King Henry V.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Pilgrim name continued to spread across England. Notable figures from this period include William Pilgrim (1529-1594), a Protestant martyr from Bedfordshire, and Ralph Pilgrim (1625-1678), a wealthy merchant from Essex.
The name gained particular prominence in the early 17th century with the Pilgrims, a group of English Puritans who sailed to America on the Mayflower in 1620. Several of the Pilgrim settlers, such as William Bradford (1590-1657) and Edward Winslow (1595-1655), bore this surname.
Other notable individuals with the Pilgrim surname over the centuries include Robert Pilgrim (1768-1835), an English engraver and artist, and George Pilgrim (1809-1891), a British naval officer who served in the Crimean War. Sir William Pilgrim (1886-1959) was a British civil servant and diplomat who served as Governor of Hong Kong from 1942 to 1946.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Pilgrim
Among Census respondents with the surname Pilgrim, the largest self-reported group is White at 71.6%. The next largest groups are Black (19.0%) and Two or More Races (4.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Pilgrim 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 Pilgrim surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White71.6% · 4,196
- Black or African American19.0% · 1,116
- Two or more races4.8% · 281
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 190
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 50
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 27
Timeline
Historical Census data for Pilgrim
Pilgrim 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
#5,535
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,275
+118 bearers (+1.9%)
Per 100,000 2.13
Rank movement Down 322 places
2020
#5,697
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,860
-415 bearers (-6.6%)
Per 100,000 1.96
Rank movement Down 162 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #5,213 | 6,157 | 2.28 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #5,535 | 6,275 | 2.13 | +118 bearers (+1.9%) | Down 322 places |
| 2020 | #5,697 | 5,860 | 1.96 | -415 bearers (-6.6%) | Down 162 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 Pilgrim 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 | #5,535 | #5,697 | -2.9% |
| Count | 6,275 | 5,860 | -6.6% |
| Per 100K | 2.13 | 1.96 | -8.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Pilgrim bearers went from 6,275 to 5,860 (-6.6% change). The surname moved down 162 positions in the national ranking, going from #5,535 to #5,697.
FAQ
Pilgrim surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Pilgrim?
Name Census estimates that about 6,720 living Americans carry the surname Pilgrim. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 51,005 residents.
How common is Pilgrim?
Pilgrim ranks #5,697 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.96 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 5,860 people with the surname Pilgrim. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (6,720), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.96 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.96 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 Pilgrim.
Has Pilgrim become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Pilgrim went from 6,275 recorded bearers to 5,860. That is a decrease of 415 (-6.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #5,535 to #5,697.
What does the Census say about the background of Pilgrim?
Among Census respondents with the surname Pilgrim, the largest self-reported group is White at 71.6%. The next largest groups are Black (19.0%) and Two or More Races (4.8%). 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?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Pilgrim in the 2020 Census, accounting for 71.6% (4,196 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Pilgrim appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (71.6%), Black (19.0%), Two or More Races (4.8%). 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 Pilgrim (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 Pilgrim mean?
A surname referring to a person who had traveled to the Holy Land or other sacred places. 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 Pilgrim (1.96 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 Pilgrim?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.