2000
#3,384
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 9,668
First available Census row
Per 100,000 3.58
Uncommon Last name
Storm
A surname referring to a person with a stormy or tempestuous personality, or one who weathered life's storms.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 11,349 Americans carry the last name Storm. That puts it at #3,518 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 3.31 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 30,201 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Storm 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 Storm with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
11K
1 in 30,201
Census rank
#3,518
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
3.3
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
9.9K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 9,897 bearers of the surname Storm in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 3.31 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 3518th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Storm, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.0%) and Hispanic (3.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Storm
The surname Storm originated in the Netherlands and Belgium in the late medieval period. It is derived from the Middle Dutch word 'storm', meaning 'storm' or 'tempest'. This name likely referred to a person's fierce or turbulent temperament or perhaps they lived in a particularly windy or storm-prone area.
Some of the earliest recorded instances of the Storm surname can be found in Dutch municipal records from the 15th and 16th centuries. These include references to individuals such as Adriaen Storm, a merchant in Amsterdam in 1560, and Jan Storm, a baker in Leiden in 1589.
In England, the Storm surname first appeared in Norfolk in the late 16th century, possibly brought over by Dutch or Flemish immigrants. One of the earliest recorded English bearers of the name was Thomas Storm, who was listed in the parish registers of Worstead, Norfolk in 1592.
The Storm name has also been present in Germany since at least the 17th century, with alternative spellings such as Sturm and Stürmer. Notable German bearers include the philosopher Johann Christoph Sturm (1635-1703) and the artist Theodor Storm (1817-1888), a renowned writer of the German Realist school.
In Scotland, the Storm surname is believed to have originated as a topographic name for someone living near a stormy or tempestuous area. One of the earliest recorded Scottish bearers was John Storm, who was born in Dundee in 1686.
Other notable historical figures with the Storm surname include the Dutch Golden Age painter Hendrick Jacobsz Storm (c. 1580-1652), the English banker and philanthropist Sir John Willam Storm (1838-1920), and the Norwegian explorer and writer Carl Storm (1867-1925).
While not an exhaustive list, these examples illustrate the widespread distribution and long history of the Storm surname across various European countries and its enduring presence over several centuries.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Storm
Among Census respondents with the surname Storm, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.0%) and Hispanic (3.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Storm 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 Storm surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.9% · 8,895
- Two or more races4.0% · 399
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 347
- Black or African American1.1% · 106
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 77
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 73
Timeline
Historical Census data for Storm
Storm 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
#3,596
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 9,895
+227 bearers (+2.3%)
Per 100,000 3.35
Rank movement Down 212 places
2020
#3,518
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 9,897
+2 bearers (+0.0%)
Per 100,000 3.31
Rank movement Up 78 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #3,384 | 9,668 | 3.58 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #3,596 | 9,895 | 3.35 | +227 bearers (+2.3%) | Down 212 places |
| 2020 | #3,518 | 9,897 | 3.31 | +2 bearers (+0.0%) | Up 78 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 Storm 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 | #3,596 | #3,518 | 2.2% |
| Count | 9,895 | 9,897 | 0.0% |
| Per 100K | 3.35 | 3.31 | -1.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Storm bearers went from 9,895 to 9,897 (+0.0% change). The surname moved up 78 positions in the national ranking, going from #3,596 to #3,518.
FAQ
Storm surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Storm?
Name Census estimates that about 11,349 living Americans carry the surname Storm. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 30,201 residents.
How common is Storm?
Storm ranks #3,518 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 3.31 per 100,000 residents, which is about 3 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 9,897 people with the surname Storm. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (11,349), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 3.31 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 3.31 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 3 of them to have the surname Storm.
Has Storm become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Storm went from 9,895 recorded bearers to 9,897. That is an increase of 2 (+0.0%). In the national ranking it rose from #3,596 to #3,518.
What does the Census say about the background of Storm?
Among Census respondents with the surname Storm, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.0%) and Hispanic (3.5%). 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?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Storm in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.9% (8,895 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Storm appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (89.9%), Two or More Races (4.0%), Hispanic (3.5%). 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 Storm (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 Storm mean?
A surname referring to a person with a stormy or tempestuous personality, or one who weathered life's storms. 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 Storm (3.31 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 Storm?
You can see how many people have the last name Storm on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.