Find out how popular the last name Thibodeau is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Thibodeau.

Thibodeau, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Thibodeau surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Thibodeau in America

Thibodeau is the 4487th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Thibodeau surname appeared 7,904 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 3 people would have the surname Thibodeau.

We can also compare 2010 data for Thibodeau to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Thibodeau

The surname Thibodeau originated in France, specifically in the Brittany region. It dates back to the Middle Ages, around the 11th or 12th century. The name is derived from the Old Breton personal name "Thibaud" or "Theobald," which means "bold people" or "people's ruler." This name was quite popular during the medieval period.

Thibodeau is a patronymic surname, meaning it was formed by adding the French suffix "-eau" to the personal name Thibaud. This pattern of name formation was common in France, indicating that the person was the son or descendant of someone named Thibaud.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Thibodeau can be found in the historical records of Brittany from the 13th century. In these records, various spellings were used, such as "Thibaudeau," "Tibaudeau," and "Thibaudel."

During the 17th and 18th centuries, many Thibodeaus immigrated to New France, which later became part of Canada. Jacques Thibodeau, born around 1640 in France, was one of the earliest known settlers with this surname in Quebec. Jean-Baptiste Thibodeau, born in 1677 in Quebec, was another notable early bearer of the name.

In the United States, the Thibodeau surname can be traced back to the late 18th century, when some families likely migrated from Canada to New England and other regions. One of the earliest known Thibodeaus in the US was Joseph Thibodeau, who was born in 1773 in Massachusetts.

Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals with the surname Thibodeau. One example is Wilfred Thibodeau (1913-1998), a Canadian politician who served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec. Another is Roch Thibodeau (1845-1921), a Canadian politician and lawyer who served as a member of the House of Commons of Canada.

In the field of academia, Joseph Thibodeau (1934-2019) was a prominent American psychologist and professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Marc Thibodeau (born 1968) is a Canadian linguist and professor at the University of Ottawa.

The Thibodeau surname has also been associated with notable figures in the arts and entertainment industry. For instance, Michel Thibodeau (born 1951) is a Canadian film director and screenwriter known for his work in French Canadian cinema.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Thibodeau

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Thibodeau.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Thibodeau was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Thibodeau has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Thibodeau was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Thibodeau, please contact us.

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