2000
#130,443
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 120
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Talisman
A charm or magical object thought to bring good luck and avert evil.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 131 Americans carry the last name Talisman. That puts it at #146,495 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,616,445 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Talisman 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
131
1 in 2,616,445
Census rank
#146,495
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
114
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 114 bearers of the surname Talisman in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 146495th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Talisman, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (3.5%) and Two or More Races (2.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Talisman
The surname Talisman originated in the Middle East, where the word "talisman" itself comes from the Arabic "tilsam" meaning a magical figure or charm. It likely emerged as a name for someone who created or sold talismans during the medieval period.
In its earliest uses, the name appeared in Arabic texts and records from around the 12th century. As people migrated westward into Europe, surnames based on occupations like Talisman began gaining prominence.
One of the first recorded instances of the surname is found in a 1324 tax record from the city of Genoa, Italy, listing a Giovanni Talisman. This suggests the name had already spread to parts of southern Europe by that time.
Another early bearer was Simon Talisman, a French merchant from Marseille born around 1380. He traveled throughout the Mediterranean trading goods and talismans during the late 1300s.
In England, the Talisman name first appears in parish records from Lincolnshire in 1492 with the christening of Alice Talismane. This spelling variation points to its Arabic origins being mangled by English speakers.
During the 16th century Renaissance period, interest in the occult and mysticism grew across Europe. This likely contributed to the Talisman name's use, as astrologers and purveyors of magical items adopted it.
One notable bearer was Johannes Talisman (1525-1594), a German astrologist and mathematician who authored works on horoscopes and the motions of planets.
As the name dispersed through marriages and migration, other localized spellings emerged like Tallesman in Spain and Talismani in Italy. But Talisman remained the dominant form used into modern times.
Over the centuries, several other historically significant individuals bore this distinctive surname, including French painter Pierre Talisman (1672-1737), English poet Mercy Talisman (1705-1782), and American Revolutionary soldier John Talisman (1745-1825).
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Talisman
Among Census respondents with the surname Talisman, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (3.5%) and Two or More Races (2.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Talisman 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 Talisman surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.1% · 105
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.5% · 4
- Two or more races2.6% · 3
- Hispanic or Latino1.8% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Talisman
Talisman 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
#145,220
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 114
-6 bearers (-5.0%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 14,777 places
2020
#146,495
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 114
+0 bearers (+0.0%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 1,275 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #130,443 | 120 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #145,220 | 114 | 0.04 | -6 bearers (-5.0%) | Down 14,777 places |
| 2020 | #146,495 | 114 | 0.04 | +0 bearers (+0.0%) | Down 1,275 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 Talisman 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 | #145,220 | #146,495 | -0.9% |
| Count | 114 | 114 | 0.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -4.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Talisman bearers went from 114 to 114 (+0.0% change). The surname moved down 1,275 positions in the national ranking, going from #145,220 to #146,495.
FAQ
Talisman surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Talisman?
Name Census estimates that about 131 living Americans carry the surname Talisman. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,616,445 residents.
How common is Talisman?
Talisman ranks #146,495 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 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 114 people with the surname Talisman. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (131), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 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 Talisman.
Has Talisman become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Talisman went from 114 recorded bearers to 114. That is an increase of 0 (+0.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #145,220 to #146,495.
What does the Census say about the background of Talisman?
Among Census respondents with the surname Talisman, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (3.5%) and Two or More Races (2.6%). 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 Talisman in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.1% (105 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Talisman appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.1%), Asian/Pacific Islander (3.5%), Two or More Races (2.6%). 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 Talisman (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 Talisman mean?
A charm or magical object thought to bring good luck and avert evil. 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 Talisman (0.04 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 common is the surname Talisman?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how common the surname Talisman is at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.