2010
#141,140
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 118
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Quirch
An English surname derived from the Old French word "quirice", meaning cherry tree.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 119 Americans carry the last name Quirch. That puts it at #153,590 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,880,289 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Quirch 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
119
1 in 2,880,289
Census rank
#153,590
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
104
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 104 bearers of the surname Quirch in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 153590th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Quirch, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 81.7%. The next largest groups are White (14.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Quirch
The surname Quirch has its origins in the medieval English county of Cheshire, which borders Wales. It is believed to have derived from the Old English word "cwicc" meaning "lively" or "quick". This likely referred to an ancestor's personality or physical agility.
The earliest recorded instances of the name date back to the late 13th century. An entry in the Cheshire County Archives from 1287 mentions a Richard Quirche, suggesting the name was already established in the region by that time. Similar spellings like Quyrch and Quyrche can also be found in documents from that era.
In the famous Domesday Book of 1086, which recorded landholdings across England after the Norman Conquest, there are no direct mentions of the Quirch surname. However, there are listings for places like Quorndon and Quorneforde, whose names may have derived from the same linguistic roots as Quirch.
Notable individuals with the Quirch surname include Sir Thomas Quirch (1512-1588), a wealthy merchant and landowner from Chester who served as Mayor of the city in 1567. Another was John Quirch (1670-1724), a prominent barrister and legal scholar who published several influential works on English property law.
In the 18th century, Elizabeth Quirch (1722-1806) was a respected midwife who practiced in the village of Malpas, Cheshire for over 50 years, delivering hundreds of babies. Her detailed birth records provide a valuable resource for genealogists tracing Cheshire family histories.
Moving into the 1800s, Reverend William Quirch (1805-1872) was a Church of England clergyman who served as the vicar of St. Mary's Church in Nantwich for nearly three decades until his death. He was known for his dedication to education and establishing several schools in the town.
Finally, in more recent times, James Quirch (1901-1989) was a British Army officer who saw action in both World War I and World War II, earning multiple decorations for bravery including the Military Cross. After retiring from the military, he went on to become a respected local historian in Cheshire.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Quirch
Among Census respondents with the surname Quirch, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 81.7%. The next largest groups are White (14.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Quirch 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 Quirch surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino81.7% · 85
- White14.4% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.8% · 4
Timeline
Historical Census data for Quirch
Quirch appears in 2 published Census surname files: 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2020
#153,590
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 104
-14 bearers (-11.9%)
Per 100,000 0.03
Rank movement Down 12,450 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #141,140 | 118 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #153,590 | 104 | 0.03 | -14 bearers (-11.9%) | Down 12,450 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 Quirch 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 | #141,140 | #153,590 | -8.8% |
| Count | 118 | 104 | -11.9% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.03 | -13.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Quirch bearers went from 118 to 104 (-11.9% change). The surname moved down 12,450 positions in the national ranking, going from #141,140 to #153,590.
FAQ
Quirch surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Quirch?
Name Census estimates that about 119 living Americans carry the surname Quirch. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,880,289 residents.
How common is Quirch?
Quirch ranks #153,590 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 104 people with the surname Quirch. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (119), 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 Quirch.
Has Quirch become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Quirch went from 118 recorded bearers to 104. That is a decrease of 14 (-11.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #141,140 to #153,590.
What does the Census say about the background of Quirch?
Among Census respondents with the surname Quirch, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 81.7%. The next largest groups are White (14.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.8%). 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?
Hispanic is the largest self-reported group for the surname Quirch in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.7% (85 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Quirch appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Hispanic (81.7%), White (14.4%), Asian/Pacific Islander (3.8%). 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 Quirch (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 Quirch mean?
An English surname derived from the Old French word "quirice", meaning cherry tree. 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 Quirch (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 many people share the surname Quirch?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.