2000
#15,809
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,691
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.63
Rare Last name
Scaife
A topographic surname referring to someone living on a ridge or cliff.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,079 Americans carry the last name Scaife. That puts it at #15,535 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.61 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 164,865 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Scaife 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.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Scaife with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
2.1K
1 in 164,865
Census rank
#15,535
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.8K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,813 bearers of the surname Scaife in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.61 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 15535th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Scaife, the largest self-reported group is Black at 45.6%. The next largest groups are White (45.2%) and Two or More Races (5.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Scaife
The surname Scaife originated in England, with its earliest recorded instances dating back to the late 12th century. It is believed to have derived from the Old Norse word "skeif," which means a stretch of land or a ridge, or the Old English word "sceaf," meaning a sheaf or bundle of grain. This suggests that the name may have been initially given to someone who lived near a ridge or worked on a farm.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Robert de Scayf, who was recorded in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire in 1199. The name also appeared in various spellings, such as Schayfe, Scheyfe, and Scayfe, in medieval records across northern England.
In the 13th century, the Scaife surname was found in the Hundred Rolls of Cambridgeshire, where it was spelled as Scheyfe. This record from 1273 suggests that the name had spread to other parts of the country by that time.
The Scaifes were particularly prominent in Yorkshire, where they owned lands and held positions of importance. One notable figure was Thomas Scaife, who served as the Mayor of Leeds in 1619. Another was Sir Henry Scaife, a wealthy landowner and merchant from Hull, who lived in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.
During the English Civil War, a Royalist officer named John Scaife fought for King Charles I and was involved in the defense of York in 1644. He later immigrated to Virginia, becoming one of the earliest Scaifes in North America.
In the 18th century, a prominent member of the family was Richard Scaife (1732-1806), a successful merchant and landowner from Yorkshire. He was known for his philanthropic works and donated funds for the establishment of schools in his hometown.
The Scaife name also gained recognition in the literary world with the poet and writer John Scaife (1789-1845), who was born in Yorkshire and wrote several works on local history and folklore.
Throughout its history, the Scaife surname has been associated with various places in northern England, particularly in Yorkshire. Some examples include Scaife Hill, a location near the town of Boroughbridge, and Scaife Abbey, which was a former monastery near Wetherby.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Scaife
Among Census respondents with the surname Scaife, the largest self-reported group is Black at 45.6%. The next largest groups are White (45.2%) and Two or More Races (5.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Scaife 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 Scaife surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American45.6% · 826
- White45.2% · 820
- Two or more races5.5% · 99
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 56
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 4
Timeline
Historical Census data for Scaife
Scaife 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
#15,418
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,900
+209 bearers (+12.4%)
Per 100,000 0.64
Rank movement Up 391 places
2020
#15,535
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,813
-87 bearers (-4.6%)
Per 100,000 0.61
Rank movement Down 117 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #15,809 | 1,691 | 0.63 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #15,418 | 1,900 | 0.64 | +209 bearers (+12.4%) | Up 391 places |
| 2020 | #15,535 | 1,813 | 0.61 | -87 bearers (-4.6%) | Down 117 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 Scaife 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 | #15,418 | #15,535 | -0.8% |
| Count | 1,900 | 1,813 | -4.6% |
| Per 100K | 0.64 | 0.61 | -5.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Scaife bearers went from 1,900 to 1,813 (-4.6% change). The surname moved down 117 positions in the national ranking, going from #15,418 to #15,535.
FAQ
Scaife surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Scaife?
Name Census estimates that about 2,079 living Americans carry the surname Scaife. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 164,865 residents.
How common is Scaife?
Scaife ranks #15,535 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.61 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 1,813 people with the surname Scaife. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,079), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.61 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.61 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 Scaife.
Has Scaife become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Scaife went from 1,900 recorded bearers to 1,813. That is a decrease of 87 (-4.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #15,418 to #15,535.
What does the Census say about the background of Scaife?
Among Census respondents with the surname Scaife, the largest self-reported group is Black at 45.6%. The next largest groups are White (45.2%) and Two or More Races (5.5%). 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 Scaife in the 2020 Census, accounting for 45.6% (826 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Scaife appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Black (45.6%), White (45.2%), Two or More Races (5.5%). 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 Scaife (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 Scaife mean?
A topographic surname referring to someone living on a ridge or cliff. 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 Scaife (0.61 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 are called Scaife?
Find out how many Americans have the surname Scaife on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.