2000
#16,391
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,617
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.60
Rare Last name
Saffold
A habitational name from a place in Suffolk, England, derived from Old English words meaning "open land by a path or trail."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,069 Americans carry the last name Saffold. That puts it at #15,592 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.60 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 165,662 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Saffold 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
2.1K
1 in 165,662
Census rank
#15,592
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.8K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,804 bearers of the surname Saffold in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.60 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 15592nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Saffold, the largest self-reported group is Black at 67.5%. The next largest groups are White (22.4%) and Two or More Races (6.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Saffold
The surname Saffold has its origins in England, dating back to the 12th century. It is believed to be a locational name, derived from a place called Saffold or Safford in the county of Shropshire. The name is thought to have evolved from the Old English words "sæfer" meaning a kind of plant or dye, and "feld" meaning a field or open land.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Staffordshire from 1199, where a person named Walter de Safforde is listed. This suggests that the name was already well-established in the region by the late 12th century.
In the 13th century, the name appears in various forms such as Safford, Safforde, and Safforth in various records across the West Midlands region of England. This includes references to individuals like William de Safford in the Assize Rolls of Staffordshire in 1272 and John de Safforth in the Lay Subsidy Rolls of Lancashire in 1332.
By the 14th century, the surname had spread to other parts of England, as evidenced by records such as the Poll Tax Returns of Yorkshire from 1379, which mentions a John Safford. During this period, the name was also sometimes spelled as Safforth or Safforthe.
One notable historical figure with the surname Saffold was Thomas Saffold, who lived in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. He was a merchant and alderman in the city of Bristol, and served as the city's mayor in 1617. Another individual of note was Richard Saffold, a 17th-century English clergyman and author, who wrote several religious works.
In the 18th century, the Saffold surname gained prominence in the American colonies, with individuals like Reuben Saffold, a prominent landowner and planter in South Carolina, who was born in 1725. Another notable figure was James Saffold, a soldier and judge in Mississippi, who served in the American Revolutionary War and was born in 1759.
Throughout the 19th century, the Saffold name continued to be found across various regions of England and the United States. Notable individuals from this period include Joseph Saffold, an English textile manufacturer and industrialist born in 1813, and Nathaniel Saffold, an American politician and judge from Alabama, who was born in 1825.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Saffold
Among Census respondents with the surname Saffold, the largest self-reported group is Black at 67.5%. The next largest groups are White (22.4%) and Two or More Races (6.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Saffold 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 Saffold surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American67.5% · 1,218
- White22.4% · 404
- Two or more races6.3% · 114
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 58
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Saffold
Saffold 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
#16,327
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,765
+148 bearers (+9.2%)
Per 100,000 0.60
Rank movement Up 64 places
2020
#15,592
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,804
+39 bearers (+2.2%)
Per 100,000 0.60
Rank movement Up 735 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #16,391 | 1,617 | 0.60 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #16,327 | 1,765 | 0.60 | +148 bearers (+9.2%) | Up 64 places |
| 2020 | #15,592 | 1,804 | 0.60 | +39 bearers (+2.2%) | Up 735 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 Saffold 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 | #16,327 | #15,592 | 4.5% |
| Count | 1,765 | 1,804 | 2.2% |
| Per 100K | 0.60 | 0.60 | 0.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Saffold bearers went from 1,765 to 1,804 (+2.2% change). The surname moved up 735 positions in the national ranking, going from #16,327 to #15,592.
FAQ
Saffold surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Saffold?
Name Census estimates that about 2,069 living Americans carry the surname Saffold. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 165,662 residents.
How common is Saffold?
Saffold ranks #15,592 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.60 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 1,804 people with the surname Saffold. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,069), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.6 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.60 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 Saffold.
Has Saffold become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Saffold went from 1,765 recorded bearers to 1,804. That is an increase of 39 (+2.2%). In the national ranking it rose from #16,327 to #15,592.
What does the Census say about the background of Saffold?
Among Census respondents with the surname Saffold, the largest self-reported group is Black at 67.5%. The next largest groups are White (22.4%) and Two or More Races (6.3%). 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?
Black is the largest self-reported group for the surname Saffold in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.5% (1,218 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Saffold appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Black (67.5%), White (22.4%), Two or More Races (6.3%). 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 Saffold (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 Saffold mean?
A habitational name from a place in Suffolk, England, derived from Old English words meaning "open land by a path or trail." 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 Saffold (0.60 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 last name Saffold?
Want to know how many people have the surname Saffold? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.