2000
#121,058
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 132
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.05
Very Rare Last name
Saintonge
From the former province of Saintonge in western France.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 128 Americans carry the last name Saintonge. That puts it at #147,954 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,677,768 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Saintonge 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
128
1 in 2,677,768
Census rank
#147,954
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
112
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 112 bearers of the surname Saintonge in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 147954th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Saintonge, the largest self-reported group is White at 75.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (12.5%) and Black (7.1%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Saintonge
The surname SAINTONGE originates from the Saintonge region in western France, which is located between the cities of La Rochelle and Bordeaux. It first appeared in the 11th century and is derived from the Old French words "saintongue" or "xaintonge," which referred to the inhabitants of this coastal region.
Historical records show that the name was prominent among the nobility and landowners of the Saintonge area during the Middle Ages. One of the earliest documented references to the name can be found in the Cartulaire de l'Abbaye de Saint-Étienne de Vaux, a 12th-century manuscript that mentions a knight named Pierre de SAINTONGE.
In the 13th century, a branch of the SAINTONGE family settled in England, where they held lands and estates in various counties. The Domesday Book, a comprehensive record of landholdings in England compiled in 1086, does not include the name SAINTONGE, suggesting that the family's arrival in England occurred after the Norman Conquest.
Notable individuals bearing the SAINTONGE surname throughout history include Jean de SAINTONGE (1250-1315), a French cleric who served as the Bishop of Mende, and Guillaume de SAINTONGE (1310-1380), a prominent architect and master mason responsible for the construction of several churches and cathedrals in France.
During the 15th century, the SAINTONGE family played a significant role in the Hundred Years' War between England and France. Jacques de SAINTONGE (1385-1447) was a French military commander who fought alongside Joan of Arc and participated in the lifting of the Siege of Orléans in 1429.
In the 16th century, the name SAINTONGE appeared in various literary works, such as the writings of the French poet and playwright Pierre de Ronsard (1524-1585), who mentioned a nobleman named Antoine de SAINTONGE in one of his poems.
Other notable individuals with the SAINTONGE surname include Louis de SAINTONGE (1628-1703), a French explorer and cartographer who mapped parts of the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico, and Marie-Anne de SAINTONGE (1745-1829), a French painter and engraver renowned for her portraits and landscapes.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Saintonge
Among Census respondents with the surname Saintonge, the largest self-reported group is White at 75.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (12.5%) and Black (7.1%).
The bar chart below shows how Saintonge 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 Saintonge surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White75.0% · 84
- Two or more races12.5% · 14
- Black or African American7.1% · 8
- Hispanic or Latino4.5% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Saintonge
Saintonge 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
#145,220
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 114
-18 bearers (-13.6%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 24,162 places
2020
#147,954
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 112
-2 bearers (-1.8%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 2,734 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #121,058 | 132 | 0.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #145,220 | 114 | 0.04 | -18 bearers (-13.6%) | Down 24,162 places |
| 2020 | #147,954 | 112 | 0.04 | -2 bearers (-1.8%) | Down 2,734 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 Saintonge 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 | #145,220 | #147,954 | -1.9% |
| Count | 114 | 112 | -1.8% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -6.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Saintonge bearers went from 114 to 112 (-1.8% change). The surname moved down 2,734 positions in the national ranking, going from #145,220 to #147,954.
FAQ
Saintonge surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Saintonge?
Name Census estimates that about 128 living Americans carry the surname Saintonge. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,677,768 residents.
How common is Saintonge?
Saintonge ranks #147,954 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 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 112 people with the surname Saintonge. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (128), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 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 Saintonge.
Has Saintonge become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Saintonge went from 114 recorded bearers to 112. That is a decrease of 2 (-1.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #145,220 to #147,954.
What does the Census say about the background of Saintonge?
Among Census respondents with the surname Saintonge, the largest self-reported group is White at 75.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (12.5%) and Black (7.1%). 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 Saintonge in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.0% (84 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Saintonge appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (75.0%), Two or More Races (12.5%), Black (7.1%). 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 Saintonge (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 Saintonge mean?
From the former province of Saintonge in western France. 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 Saintonge (0.04 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 Saintonge?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.