2000
#5,852
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,418
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.01
Rare Last name
Rivard
A French topographic surname for someone living near a riverbank or shore.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 6,151 Americans carry the last name Rivard. That puts it at #6,124 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.79 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 55,723 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Rivard 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
6.2K
1 in 55,723
Census rank
#6,124
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
5.4K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 5,364 bearers of the surname Rivard in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.79 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 6124th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Rivard, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.3%) and Two or More Races (2.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Rivard
The surname Rivard originates from France and dates back to the 12th century. It is derived from the Old French word 'rivière', meaning 'river', and was likely initially a descriptive name referring to someone who lived near a river or worked on or near a river.
The earliest recorded instance of the name Rivard can be found in the Cartulaire de l'église cathédrale de Grenoble, a 12th-century manuscript from the Grenoble region of France, where a person named Petrus Rivard is mentioned.
Another early reference to the name is found in the 13th-century Cartulaire de l'abbaye de Savigny, where a Guillelmus Rivard is listed among the witnesses to a land transaction in Burgundy.
In the 14th century, the name appears in the Livre des Bourgeois de l'Echevinage de Reims, a record of the citizens of Reims, with an entry for a Jean Rivard.
The Rivard name has also been associated with several notable historical figures. One such figure was Jacques Rivard (1524-1592), a French jurist and scholar who served as a counselor in the Parlement of Paris.
Another prominent individual with the surname was François Rivard (1615-1687), a French Catholic priest and missionary who traveled to New France (now Canada) and worked among the Huron and Iroquois peoples.
In the 18th century, Louis Rivard (1720-1795) was a French merchant and ship owner who played a significant role in the trade between France and its colonies in the West Indies.
The name Rivard has also been found in various place names, such as Rivardville, a former village in Quebec, Canada, named after a local family with that surname.
Over the centuries, the surname has undergone slight variations in spelling, including Rivar, Rivart, and Rivard-Dufresne, but the root form of Rivard has remained consistent.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rivard
Among Census respondents with the surname Rivard, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.3%) and Two or More Races (2.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Rivard 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 Rivard surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.3% · 4,950
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 179
- Two or more races2.9% · 157
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 45
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 19
- Black or African American0.3% · 14
Timeline
Historical Census data for Rivard
Rivard 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
#6,186
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,530
+112 bearers (+2.1%)
Per 100,000 1.87
Rank movement Down 334 places
2020
#6,124
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,364
-166 bearers (-3.0%)
Per 100,000 1.79
Rank movement Up 62 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #5,852 | 5,418 | 2.01 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #6,186 | 5,530 | 1.87 | +112 bearers (+2.1%) | Down 334 places |
| 2020 | #6,124 | 5,364 | 1.79 | -166 bearers (-3.0%) | Up 62 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 Rivard 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 | #6,186 | #6,124 | 1.0% |
| Count | 5,530 | 5,364 | -3.0% |
| Per 100K | 1.87 | 1.79 | -4.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Rivard bearers went from 5,530 to 5,364 (-3.0% change). The surname moved up 62 positions in the national ranking, going from #6,186 to #6,124.
FAQ
Rivard surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Rivard?
Name Census estimates that about 6,151 living Americans carry the surname Rivard. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 55,723 residents.
How common is Rivard?
Rivard ranks #6,124 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.79 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 5,364 people with the surname Rivard. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (6,151), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.79 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.79 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 Rivard.
Has Rivard become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Rivard went from 5,530 recorded bearers to 5,364. That is a decrease of 166 (-3.0%). In the national ranking it rose from #6,186 to #6,124.
What does the Census say about the background of Rivard?
Among Census respondents with the surname Rivard, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.3%) and Two or More Races (2.9%). 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 Rivard in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.3% (4,950 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Rivard appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.3%), Hispanic (3.3%), Two or More Races (2.9%). 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 Rivard (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 Rivard mean?
A French topographic surname for someone living near a riverbank or shore. 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 Rivard (1.79 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 have the surname Rivard?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.