2000
#4,518
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,230
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.68
Rare Last name
Staten
A Dutch toponymic surname referring to someone from the province of Staat or the city of Staaten.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 8,256 Americans carry the last name Staten. That puts it at #4,760 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.41 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 41,516 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Staten 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 Staten with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
8.3K
1 in 41,516
Census rank
#4,760
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.4
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
7.2K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 7,200 bearers of the surname Staten in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.41 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 4760th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Staten, the largest self-reported group is Black at 48.5%. The next largest groups are White (43.5%) and Two or More Races (4.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Staten
The surname "Staten" has its origins in the Netherlands, where it first emerged in the 16th century. It is believed to be derived from the Dutch word "stad," meaning "city" or "town." This suggests that the name may have initially referred to someone who resided in or was associated with a particular city or town.
The earliest known record of the Staten surname dates back to the late 1500s in the Dutch province of Friesland. In some historical documents from that period, the name was spelled differently, such as "Staaten" or "Staatten," reflecting the variations in spelling that were common at the time.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the Staten surname was Jan Staten, a Dutch merchant and explorer who lived in the late 16th century. He was known for his voyages to the East Indies and his involvement in the Dutch East India Company.
Another prominent figure was Pieter van Staten, a Dutch painter and printmaker who lived in the 17th century. He was known for his landscape paintings and etchings, many of which depicted scenes from the Dutch countryside.
In the 18th century, the Staten surname appeared in records from the Palatinate region of Germany, suggesting that some individuals with this name may have emigrated from the Netherlands to that area.
One notable example from this period is Johann Staten, a German theologian and philosopher who lived from 1714 to 1789. He was known for his writings on ethics and moral philosophy.
As the name spread across Europe, it also found its way to England, where it was sometimes anglicized as "Staton" or "Statton." In the 19th century, a prominent English figure with this surname was Sir Henry Staten, a politician and member of Parliament who lived from 1818 to 1892.
While the Staten surname has its roots in the Netherlands, it has since spread to various parts of the world, including North America, where it was brought by Dutch and German immigrants in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Staten
Among Census respondents with the surname Staten, the largest self-reported group is Black at 48.5%. The next largest groups are White (43.5%) and Two or More Races (4.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Staten 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 Staten surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American48.5% · 3,495
- White43.5% · 3,129
- Two or more races4.4% · 315
- Hispanic or Latino2.7% · 196
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 35
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 30
Timeline
Historical Census data for Staten
Staten 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
#4,430
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 8,021
+791 bearers (+10.9%)
Per 100,000 2.72
Rank movement Up 88 places
2020
#4,760
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,200
-821 bearers (-10.2%)
Per 100,000 2.41
Rank movement Down 330 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #4,518 | 7,230 | 2.68 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #4,430 | 8,021 | 2.72 | +791 bearers (+10.9%) | Up 88 places |
| 2020 | #4,760 | 7,200 | 2.41 | -821 bearers (-10.2%) | Down 330 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 Staten 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 | #4,430 | #4,760 | -7.4% |
| Count | 8,021 | 7,200 | -10.2% |
| Per 100K | 2.72 | 2.41 | -11.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Staten bearers went from 8,021 to 7,200 (-10.2% change). The surname moved down 330 positions in the national ranking, going from #4,430 to #4,760.
FAQ
Staten surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Staten?
Name Census estimates that about 8,256 living Americans carry the surname Staten. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 41,516 residents.
How common is Staten?
Staten ranks #4,760 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.41 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 7,200 people with the surname Staten. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (8,256), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2.41 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.41 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Staten.
Has Staten become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Staten went from 8,021 recorded bearers to 7,200. That is a decrease of 821 (-10.2%). In the national ranking it fell from #4,430 to #4,760.
What does the Census say about the background of Staten?
Among Census respondents with the surname Staten, the largest self-reported group is Black at 48.5%. The next largest groups are White (43.5%) and Two or More Races (4.4%). 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?
Black is the largest self-reported group for the surname Staten in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.5% (3,495 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Staten appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Black (48.5%), White (43.5%), Two or More Races (4.4%). 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 Staten (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 Staten mean?
A Dutch toponymic surname referring to someone from the province of Staat or the city of Staaten. 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 Staten (2.41 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 Staten?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the surname Staten at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.