Find out how popular the last name Portier is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Portier.

Portier, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Portier surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Portier in America

Portier is the 31554th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Portier surname appeared 733 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Portier.

We can also compare 2010 data for Portier to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Portier

The surname Portier is of French origin, deriving from the old French word "portier" which means "door-keeper" or "gatekeeper". It dates back to the medieval period in France, when portiers were responsible for guarding the gates and entrances of castles, towns, and other fortified structures.

The name likely first emerged in the northern regions of France, where many such fortifications were located. Early variations of the spelling included Portiere, Portyers, and Portyere. Some of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in old tax rolls and parish records from the 13th and 14th centuries.

In the famous Domesday Book, a census of landowners commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086, there is a reference to a Roger le Portor, which may be an early anglicized version of the name. This suggests that the name had already spread to England by the 11th century.

One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Jean Portier, a French soldier who fought in the Hundred Years' War and is mentioned in chronicles from the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. Another notable Portier was Pierre Portier, a 16th century French architect who worked on several prominent buildings in Paris.

In the 17th century, Jacques Portier was a French explorer and fur trader who traveled extensively in what is now Canada and the Great Lakes region. He is credited with establishing several early trading posts and settlements.

Moving into the 18th century, Jean-Baptiste Portier (1712-1781) was a French botanist and horticulturist who made significant contributions to the study of plant life in the Caribbean and South America.

Finally, in the 19th century, Joseph Portier (1824-1892) was a French-Canadian politician and lawyer who served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec.

These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the surname Portier, which has its roots in the medieval gatekeeping profession and has since spread across many parts of the world.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Portier

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Portier.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Portier was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Portier has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Portier was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Portier, please contact us.

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!