2000
#3,752
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 8,679
First available Census row
Per 100,000 3.22
Rare Last name
Sweat
An occupational surname for a hard-working laborer or for someone who lived near a sweat bath house.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 9,852 Americans carry the last name Sweat. That puts it at #4,012 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.87 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 34,790 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Sweat 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
9.9K
1 in 34,790
Census rank
#4,012
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
8.6K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 8,591 bearers of the surname Sweat in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.87 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 4012th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Sweat, the largest self-reported group is White at 72.7%. The next largest groups are Black (17.8%) and Two or More Races (4.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Sweat
The surname SWEAT is believed to have originated in England, likely during the medieval period. It is thought to be an occupational name, derived from the Old English word "swat," meaning "perspiration" or "sweat." This suggests that the name may have initially referred to someone who worked in a physically demanding occupation that caused them to sweat profusely, such as a blacksmith or a laborer.
Records from the 13th and 14th centuries indicate that the SWEAT surname was particularly prevalent in the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk in eastern England. Some of the earliest documented instances of the name include Robert Swat, who was mentioned in the Feet of Fines for Suffolk in 1310, and John Swet, recorded in the Subsidy Rolls for Norfolk in 1327.
The SWEAT surname has also been linked to various place names throughout England, such as Sweaton in Yorkshire and Swaton in Lincolnshire. These locations may have influenced the spelling variations of the name over time, including Swete, Swett, and Sweatt.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, several notable individuals bore the SWEAT surname. One example is John Swet, a member of the English gentry who lived in the late 16th century. Another is William Sweat, a Puritan minister born in 1624 in Newbury, Massachusetts, who played a significant role in the early history of the American colonies.
In the 18th century, the SWEAT surname gained recognition through figures like Benjamin Swett, a prominent American merchant and politician born in 1718 in Newbury, Massachusetts. He served as a representative in the Massachusetts General Court and was a delegate to the Provincial Congress during the American Revolutionary War.
Another notable bearer of the SWEAT surname was John Swett, an American educator and politician born in 1830 in Pittsfield, New Hampshire. He served as the State Superintendent of Public Instruction in California and was instrumental in establishing the state's public school system.
The 19th century also saw the rise of Samuel Swett, a successful American businessman and philanthropist born in 1825 in Hampstead, New Hampshire. He made his fortune in the textile industry and donated generously to educational institutions, including the founding of the Swett Library at Massachusetts Agricultural College (now the University of Massachusetts Amherst).
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sweat
Among Census respondents with the surname Sweat, the largest self-reported group is White at 72.7%. The next largest groups are Black (17.8%) and Two or More Races (4.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Sweat 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 Sweat surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White72.7% · 6,248
- Black or African American17.8% · 1,532
- Two or more races4.9% · 424
- Hispanic or Latino2.6% · 225
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 136
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 26
Timeline
Historical Census data for Sweat
Sweat 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
#3,856
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 9,194
+515 bearers (+5.9%)
Per 100,000 3.12
Rank movement Down 104 places
2020
#4,012
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 8,591
-603 bearers (-6.6%)
Per 100,000 2.87
Rank movement Down 156 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #3,752 | 8,679 | 3.22 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #3,856 | 9,194 | 3.12 | +515 bearers (+5.9%) | Down 104 places |
| 2020 | #4,012 | 8,591 | 2.87 | -603 bearers (-6.6%) | Down 156 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 Sweat 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 | #3,856 | #4,012 | -4.0% |
| Count | 9,194 | 8,591 | -6.6% |
| Per 100K | 3.12 | 2.87 | -7.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Sweat bearers went from 9,194 to 8,591 (-6.6% change). The surname moved down 156 positions in the national ranking, going from #3,856 to #4,012.
FAQ
Sweat surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Sweat?
Name Census estimates that about 9,852 living Americans carry the surname Sweat. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 34,790 residents.
How common is Sweat?
Sweat ranks #4,012 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.87 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 8,591 people with the surname Sweat. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (9,852), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2.87 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.87 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 Sweat.
Has Sweat become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Sweat went from 9,194 recorded bearers to 8,591. That is a decrease of 603 (-6.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #3,856 to #4,012.
What does the Census say about the background of Sweat?
Among Census respondents with the surname Sweat, the largest self-reported group is White at 72.7%. The next largest groups are Black (17.8%) and Two or More Races (4.9%). 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 Sweat in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.7% (6,248 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Sweat appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (72.7%), Black (17.8%), Two or More Races (4.9%). 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 Sweat (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 Sweat mean?
An occupational surname for a hard-working laborer or for someone who lived near a sweat bath house. 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 Sweat (2.87 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 surname Sweat?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.