2000
#126,400
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 125
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.05
Very Rare Last name
Pittsford
An English place name referring to a village in Kent, England.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 118 Americans carry the last name Pittsford. That puts it at #154,182 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,904,698 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Pittsford 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
118
1 in 2,904,698
Census rank
#154,182
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
103
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 103 bearers of the surname Pittsford in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 154182nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Pittsford, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.8%) and Black (1.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Pittsford
The surname Pittsford is believed to have originated in England, likely in the late medieval period or earlier. It is a locational surname, derived from the place name "Pittsford" or variations thereof, which referred to a town or settlement in that region.
One possible origin of the name Pittsford is from the Old English words "pytt" meaning a pit or hollow, and "ford" meaning a shallow crossing in a river or stream. This suggests that the name may have referred to a settlement near a ford or crossing point with a notable pit or depression in the landscape.
Another theory is that the name Pittsford is derived from a combination of a personal name and the word "ford," such as "Pytt's ford" or "Pitt's ford," indicating that the settlement was named after an individual associated with the crossing point.
Historically, the name Pittsford can be traced back to various records and documents from the 13th century onwards. One notable mention is in the Pipe Rolls of Hertfordshire from 1275, which lists a person named Adam de Pycesford, likely referring to the Pittsford area.
In the 14th century, the name appears in the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire, where a William de Pyteforde is recorded as a taxpayer in 1327. This spelling variation highlights the evolution of the name over time.
One of the earliest known individuals with the surname Pittsford was John Pittsford, who was born in the village of Pittsford, Gloucestershire, in the late 15th century, around 1480. Another notable figure was Sir Richard Pittsford, a wealthy landowner and merchant from Oxfordshire, who lived in the early 16th century (circa 1510-1580).
In the 17th century, the Pittsford name appears in various parish records and land deeds, such as the baptismal record of Thomas Pittsford in Warwickshire in 1632. Around the same time, a family by the name of Pittsford is known to have resided in the town of Pittsford, located in the county of Rutland.
A prominent individual bearing the Pittsford surname was Sir William Pittsford (1650-1721), a Member of Parliament for the borough of Taunton in Somerset during the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
Throughout history, variations of the Pittsford name have included spellings such as Pytesforde, Pitsforde, Pyttesford, and Pittesforde, among others. These variations reflect the inconsistencies in spelling and record-keeping practices of earlier times.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Pittsford
Among Census respondents with the surname Pittsford, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.8%) and Black (1.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Pittsford 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 Pittsford surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.3% · 92
- Hispanic or Latino5.8% · 6
- Black or African American1.9% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 1
- Two or more races1.0% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Pittsford
Pittsford 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
#143,149
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 116
-9 bearers (-7.2%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 16,749 places
2020
#154,182
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 103
-13 bearers (-11.2%)
Per 100,000 0.03
Rank movement Down 11,033 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #126,400 | 125 | 0.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #143,149 | 116 | 0.04 | -9 bearers (-7.2%) | Down 16,749 places |
| 2020 | #154,182 | 103 | 0.03 | -13 bearers (-11.2%) | Down 11,033 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 Pittsford 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 | #143,149 | #154,182 | -7.7% |
| Count | 116 | 103 | -11.2% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.03 | -13.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Pittsford bearers went from 116 to 103 (-11.2% change). The surname moved down 11,033 positions in the national ranking, going from #143,149 to #154,182.
FAQ
Pittsford surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Pittsford?
Name Census estimates that about 118 living Americans carry the surname Pittsford. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,904,698 residents.
How common is Pittsford?
Pittsford ranks #154,182 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.03 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 103 people with the surname Pittsford. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (118), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.03 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.03 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 Pittsford.
Has Pittsford become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Pittsford went from 116 recorded bearers to 103. That is a decrease of 13 (-11.2%). In the national ranking it fell from #143,149 to #154,182.
What does the Census say about the background of Pittsford?
Among Census respondents with the surname Pittsford, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.8%) and Black (1.9%). 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 Pittsford in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.3% (92 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Pittsford appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (89.3%), Hispanic (5.8%), Black (1.9%). 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 Pittsford (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 Pittsford mean?
An English place name referring to a village in Kent, England. 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 Pittsford (0.03 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 Pittsford?
See how many people have the last name Pittsford on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.