2000
#8,374
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,629
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.35
Rare Last name
Roberge
A French topographic surname denoting someone who lived near a strong and sheltering oak tree or wood.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,868 Americans carry the last name Roberge. That puts it at #9,263 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.13 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 88,613 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Roberge 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
3.9K
1 in 88,613
Census rank
#9,263
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.1
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
3.4K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 3,373 bearers of the surname Roberge in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.13 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 9263rd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Roberge, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.6%) and Hispanic (2.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Roberge
The surname ROBERGE has its origins in France, tracing back to the Middle Ages. It is believed to have derived from the Old French word "robe," which means a robe or a garment. The name likely referred to an occupation or a distinguishing characteristic of the original bearer, possibly a person who made or sold robes.
The earliest recorded instances of the surname ROBERGE can be found in medieval French documents and records from the 13th and 14th centuries. Some of these early references include Jacques Roberge, a merchant from Normandy mentioned in a 1327 trade register, and Guilhem Roberge, a landowner from Picardy whose name appears in a 1389 land deed.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the surname ROBERGE began to spread across various regions of France, including Brittany and Poitou. One notable bearer of the name was Pierre Roberge, a renowned French sculptor born in 1592 in Poitiers, whose works adorned several churches and cathedrals in western France.
As the French colonial empire expanded in the 17th and 18th centuries, the surname ROBERGE found its way to the French colonies in North America, particularly in what is now the province of Quebec, Canada. One of the earliest recorded ROBERGE families in New France was that of Jean-Baptiste Roberge, who arrived in Quebec from Normandy in 1665.
Another prominent figure in the history of the ROBERGE surname was François Roberge, a French-Canadian soldier and explorer born in 1720 in Trois-Rivières, Quebec. He played a significant role in the exploration and mapping of the Great Lakes region during the late 18th century.
Over the centuries, the ROBERGE surname has been associated with various notable individuals, including Émile Roberge, a Canadian artist and sculptor born in 1860, and Pierre Roberge, a French-Canadian politician and lawyer born in 1856, who served as a member of the Canadian House of Commons.
While the surname ROBERGE originated in France and has a long history in that country, it has also become well-established in other parts of the world, particularly in Canada and the United States, where many French and French-Canadian immigrants settled and established roots.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Roberge
Among Census respondents with the surname Roberge, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.6%) and Hispanic (2.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Roberge 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 Roberge surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.6% · 3,157
- Two or more races2.6% · 88
- Hispanic or Latino2.3% · 79
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 27
- Black or African American0.4% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 8
Timeline
Historical Census data for Roberge
Roberge 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
#8,814
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,714
+85 bearers (+2.3%)
Per 100,000 1.26
Rank movement Down 440 places
2020
#9,263
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,373
-341 bearers (-9.2%)
Per 100,000 1.13
Rank movement Down 449 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #8,374 | 3,629 | 1.35 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #8,814 | 3,714 | 1.26 | +85 bearers (+2.3%) | Down 440 places |
| 2020 | #9,263 | 3,373 | 1.13 | -341 bearers (-9.2%) | Down 449 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 Roberge 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 | #8,814 | #9,263 | -5.1% |
| Count | 3,714 | 3,373 | -9.2% |
| Per 100K | 1.26 | 1.13 | -10.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Roberge bearers went from 3,714 to 3,373 (-9.2% change). The surname moved down 449 positions in the national ranking, going from #8,814 to #9,263.
FAQ
Roberge surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Roberge?
Name Census estimates that about 3,868 living Americans carry the surname Roberge. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 88,613 residents.
How common is Roberge?
Roberge ranks #9,263 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.13 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 3,373 people with the surname Roberge. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,868), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.13 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.13 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Roberge.
Has Roberge become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Roberge went from 3,714 recorded bearers to 3,373. That is a decrease of 341 (-9.2%). In the national ranking it fell from #8,814 to #9,263.
What does the Census say about the background of Roberge?
Among Census respondents with the surname Roberge, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.6%) and Hispanic (2.3%). 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 Roberge in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.6% (3,157 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Roberge appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.6%), Two or More Races (2.6%), Hispanic (2.3%). 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 Roberge (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 Roberge mean?
A French topographic surname denoting someone who lived near a strong and sheltering oak tree or wood. 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 Roberge (1.13 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 Roberge?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.