2000
#4,574
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,115
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.64
Rare Last name
Thornhill
A locational surname referring to someone who lived on or near a hill with thorn bushes.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 7,838 Americans carry the last name Thornhill. That puts it at #4,978 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.29 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 43,730 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Thornhill 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 Thornhill with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
7.8K
1 in 43,730
Census rank
#4,978
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.3
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
6.8K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 6,835 bearers of the surname Thornhill in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.29 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 4978th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Thornhill, the largest self-reported group is White at 77.0%. The next largest groups are Black (13.3%) and Two or More Races (4.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Thornhill
The surname Thornhill has its roots in England, originating during the medieval period. It is a locational name derived from various places called Thornhill, which were named for the old English words "thorn" meaning hawthorn tree and "hyll" meaning hill. The earliest known bearer of this surname was Robert de Thornhull, recorded in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire in 1219.
The name Thornhill is found in several counties throughout England, indicating that it arose independently in different places. For example, there are places called Thornhill in Dorset, Yorkshire, Derbyshire, and Staffordshire. The Domesday Book of 1086 records a place called Thornhille in Yorkshire, suggesting that the name existed in that area even before the 13th century.
In the 13th century, a family bearing the name Thornhill held lands in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. One notable member was Thomas de Thornhill, who served as a member of parliament for Yorkshire in 1301. Another early record is that of William de Thornhill, a landowner in Northamptonshire in the late 13th century.
As the surname spread across England, variations in spelling emerged, such as Thornhull, Thornell, and Thornill. Some of these variants may have derived from different place names or been influenced by local dialects. One notable bearer of the name in its Thornell form was Richard Thornell, a wealthy merchant and alderman in the City of London in the 16th century.
Sir Isaac Thornhill (1617-1669) was a prominent English lawyer and judge who served as a Member of Parliament and Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas under Charles II. Another notable figure was Sir James Thornhill (1675-1734), a celebrated English painter and one of the first members of the revived Society of Artists in London.
In the 18th century, Sir Samuel Thornhill (1704-1784) was a distinguished naval officer who served in the Royal Navy during the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War. He rose to the rank of Admiral of the Blue and was appointed Governor of Greenwich Hospital in 1770.
The Thornhill surname is also associated with several places in the United States and Canada, likely named after early settlers or locations in England. For example, there is a community called Thornhill in Ontario, Canada, as well as places bearing the name in Texas, Ohio, and West Virginia.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Thornhill
Among Census respondents with the surname Thornhill, the largest self-reported group is White at 77.0%. The next largest groups are Black (13.3%) and Two or More Races (4.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Thornhill 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 Thornhill surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White77.0% · 5,264
- Black or African American13.3% · 912
- Two or more races4.6% · 316
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 253
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 50
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 40
Timeline
Historical Census data for Thornhill
Thornhill 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
#4,817
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,327
+212 bearers (+3.0%)
Per 100,000 2.48
Rank movement Down 243 places
2020
#4,978
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,835
-492 bearers (-6.7%)
Per 100,000 2.29
Rank movement Down 161 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #4,574 | 7,115 | 2.64 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #4,817 | 7,327 | 2.48 | +212 bearers (+3.0%) | Down 243 places |
| 2020 | #4,978 | 6,835 | 2.29 | -492 bearers (-6.7%) | Down 161 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 Thornhill 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 | #4,817 | #4,978 | -3.3% |
| Count | 7,327 | 6,835 | -6.7% |
| Per 100K | 2.48 | 2.29 | -7.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Thornhill bearers went from 7,327 to 6,835 (-6.7% change). The surname moved down 161 positions in the national ranking, going from #4,817 to #4,978.
FAQ
Thornhill surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Thornhill?
Name Census estimates that about 7,838 living Americans carry the surname Thornhill. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 43,730 residents.
How common is Thornhill?
Thornhill ranks #4,978 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.29 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 6,835 people with the surname Thornhill. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (7,838), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2.29 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.29 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 Thornhill.
Has Thornhill become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Thornhill went from 7,327 recorded bearers to 6,835. That is a decrease of 492 (-6.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #4,817 to #4,978.
What does the Census say about the background of Thornhill?
Among Census respondents with the surname Thornhill, the largest self-reported group is White at 77.0%. The next largest groups are Black (13.3%) and Two or More Races (4.6%). 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 Thornhill in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.0% (5,264 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Thornhill appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (77.0%), Black (13.3%), Two or More Races (4.6%). 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 Thornhill (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 Thornhill mean?
A locational surname referring to someone who lived on or near a hill with thorn bushes. 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 Thornhill (2.29 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 Thornhill?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.