2000
#2,773
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 11,941
First available Census row
Per 100,000 4.43
Uncommon Last name
Scarborough
A locational surname referring to someone from the coastal town of Scarborough in North Yorkshire, England.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 13,510 Americans carry the last name Scarborough. That puts it at #2,990 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 3.94 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 25,370 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Scarborough 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 Scarborough with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
14K
1 in 25,370
Census rank
#2,990
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
3.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
12K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 11,781 bearers of the surname Scarborough in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 3.94 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 2990th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Scarborough, the largest self-reported group is White at 77.4%. The next largest groups are Black (14.7%) and Two or More Races (3.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Scarborough
The surname Scarborough originated in England during the Anglo-Saxon period, deriving from the town of Scarborough in North Yorkshire. The name is believed to come from the Old Norse words 'sker' meaning a long rock or cliff, and 'burg' meaning a fortified place or town, referring to the town's location on a headland overlooking the North Sea.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Scarborough can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it is spelled 'Scardeburg'. This entry refers to the town itself and suggests the name was already well-established by the late 11th century.
In the 13th century, records show a John de Scardeburgh, who was a prominent ecclesiastic and served as Chancellor of the University of Oxford from 1245 to 1248. This early use of the surname suggests it had already been adopted by some families by this time.
During the 14th century, the name appears in various forms such as Scardeburg, Scardeburghe, and Scareburgh. One notable bearer was Sir John Scarborough (c.1310-1374), a wealthy landowner and member of the gentry from Yorkshire.
In the 16th century, the spelling of the surname became more standardized as Scarborough. Sir Charles Scarborough (1616-1694) was a prominent English mathematician, physician, and philosopher who served as the principal physician to King Charles II and King James II.
Other notable individuals with the surname Scarborough include Robert Scarborough (c.1635-1694), an English explorer and colonial official who served as the first governor of East New Jersey; Sir Robert Scarborough (1753-1833), a British naval officer who served in the American Revolutionary War and the Napoleonic Wars; and Dorothy Scarborough (1878-1935), an American writer and literary critic from Texas.
While the surname Scarborough remains most prevalent in England, particularly in the Yorkshire region, it has also been carried to other parts of the world through migration and diaspora over the centuries, becoming well-established in countries like the United States, Canada, and Australia.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Scarborough
Among Census respondents with the surname Scarborough, the largest self-reported group is White at 77.4%. The next largest groups are Black (14.7%) and Two or More Races (3.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Scarborough 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 Scarborough surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White77.4% · 9,120
- Black or African American14.7% · 1,737
- Two or more races3.4% · 406
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 393
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 67
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 58
Timeline
Historical Census data for Scarborough
Scarborough 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
#2,925
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 12,252
+311 bearers (+2.6%)
Per 100,000 4.15
Rank movement Down 152 places
2020
#2,990
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 11,781
-471 bearers (-3.8%)
Per 100,000 3.94
Rank movement Down 65 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #2,773 | 11,941 | 4.43 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #2,925 | 12,252 | 4.15 | +311 bearers (+2.6%) | Down 152 places |
| 2020 | #2,990 | 11,781 | 3.94 | -471 bearers (-3.8%) | Down 65 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 Scarborough 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 | #2,925 | #2,990 | -2.2% |
| Count | 12,252 | 11,781 | -3.8% |
| Per 100K | 4.15 | 3.94 | -5.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Scarborough bearers went from 12,252 to 11,781 (-3.8% change). The surname moved down 65 positions in the national ranking, going from #2,925 to #2,990.
FAQ
Scarborough surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Scarborough?
Name Census estimates that about 13,510 living Americans carry the surname Scarborough. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 25,370 residents.
How common is Scarborough?
Scarborough ranks #2,990 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 3.94 per 100,000 residents, which is about 4 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 11,781 people with the surname Scarborough. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (13,510), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 3.94 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 3.94 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 4 of them to have the surname Scarborough.
Has Scarborough become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Scarborough went from 12,252 recorded bearers to 11,781. That is a decrease of 471 (-3.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #2,925 to #2,990.
What does the Census say about the background of Scarborough?
Among Census respondents with the surname Scarborough, the largest self-reported group is White at 77.4%. The next largest groups are Black (14.7%) and Two or More Races (3.4%). 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 Scarborough in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.4% (9,120 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Scarborough appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (77.4%), Black (14.7%), Two or More Races (3.4%). 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 Scarborough (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 Scarborough mean?
A locational surname referring to someone from the coastal town of Scarborough in North Yorkshire, England. 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 Scarborough (3.94 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 Scarborough?
Want to know how many people have the last name Scarborough? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.