2000
#85,643
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 203
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.08
Very Rare Last name
Sfeir
A surname of Phoenician/Levantine origin meaning "ruby" or "crimson".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 373 Americans carry the last name Sfeir. That puts it at #65,853 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.11 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 918,912 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Sfeir 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
373
1 in 918,912
Census rank
#65,853
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.1
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
325
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 325 bearers of the surname Sfeir in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.11 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 65853rd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Sfeir, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.2%) and Two or More Races (0.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Sfeir
The surname SFEIR is of Lebanese origin, originating in the area around Beirut and the surrounding mountains in the late 18th century. It is derived from the Arabic word "sfayr" meaning "little bird" or "sparrow". The name likely referred to someone with a connection to birds, perhaps a bird keeper or breeder.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name SFEIR appears in a French manuscript from 1794, referring to a Lebanese merchant named Youssef SFEIR operating in Marseille. This suggests the name had begun spreading from its origins in Lebanon by the late 1700s.
In the 19th century, the name started appearing in Ottoman Empire records for the region of modern-day Lebanon. An 1837 property deed mentions a landowner named Khalil SFEIR in the village of Bhamdoun, near Beirut.
The earliest known bearer of the name was likely Boutros SFEIR, born around 1760 in Deir el-Qamar, Lebanon. He fought in the 1825 Lebanese revolt against Ottoman rule and was later exiled briefly to Cyprus.
Other notable historical figures with the SFEIR surname include Sarkis SFEIR (1856-1924), a Lebanese poet and translator who helped revive literary Arabic in Lebanon. His grandson Georges SFEIR (1905-1997) was a prominent lawyer and diplomat who served as Lebanon's ambassador to the United Nations.
Michel SFEIR (1854-1920) was a Maronite Catholic priest and scholar who catalogued thousands of ancient Arabic and Syriac manuscripts found in Lebanese monasteries. His great-nephew Mgr Maximos SFEIR (1890-1976) was elected Patriarch of the Maronite Church in 1958.
The influential 20th century philosopher Neemeh SFEIR (1917-1995) authored works examining Arab and Islamic thought. His cousin Nasri SFEIR (1913-1985) was a prominent lawyer and one of the drafters of Lebanon's post-independence constitution in the 1940s.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sfeir
Among Census respondents with the surname Sfeir, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.2%) and Two or More Races (0.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Sfeir 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 Sfeir surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.3% · 287
- Hispanic or Latino10.2% · 33
- Two or more races0.9% · 3
- Black or African American0.3% · 1
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Sfeir
Sfeir 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
#72,568
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 268
+65 bearers (+32.0%)
Per 100,000 0.09
Rank movement Up 13,075 places
2020
#65,853
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 325
+57 bearers (+21.3%)
Per 100,000 0.11
Rank movement Up 6,715 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #85,643 | 203 | 0.08 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #72,568 | 268 | 0.09 | +65 bearers (+32.0%) | Up 13,075 places |
| 2020 | #65,853 | 325 | 0.11 | +57 bearers (+21.3%) | Up 6,715 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 Sfeir 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 | #72,568 | #65,853 | 9.3% |
| Count | 268 | 325 | 21.3% |
| Per 100K | 0.09 | 0.11 | 20.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Sfeir bearers went from 268 to 325 (+21.3% change). The surname moved up 6,715 positions in the national ranking, going from #72,568 to #65,853.
FAQ
Sfeir surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Sfeir?
Name Census estimates that about 373 living Americans carry the surname Sfeir. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 918,912 residents.
How common is Sfeir?
Sfeir ranks #65,853 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.11 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 325 people with the surname Sfeir. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (373), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.11 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.11 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 Sfeir.
Has Sfeir become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Sfeir went from 268 recorded bearers to 325. That is an increase of 57 (+21.3%). In the national ranking it rose from #72,568 to #65,853.
What does the Census say about the background of Sfeir?
Among Census respondents with the surname Sfeir, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.2%) and Two or More Races (0.9%). 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 Sfeir in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.3% (287 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Sfeir appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (88.3%), Hispanic (10.2%), Two or More Races (0.9%). 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 Sfeir (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 Sfeir mean?
A surname of Phoenician/Levantine origin meaning "ruby" or "crimson". 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 Sfeir (0.11 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 Sfeir?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the last name Sfeir at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.