2000
#5,550
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,752
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.13
Rare Last name
Thurmond
Derived from a place name meaning "thor's mound" in Old English, referring to a hill dedicated to the god Thor.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 6,528 Americans carry the last name Thurmond. That puts it at #5,849 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.90 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 52,505 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Thurmond 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
6.5K
1 in 52,505
Census rank
#5,849
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
5.7K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 5,693 bearers of the surname Thurmond in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.90 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 5849th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Thurmond, the largest self-reported group is White at 53.9%. The next largest groups are Black (37.2%) and Two or More Races (5.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Thurmond
The surname Thurmond is of English origin and can be traced back to the early 12th century. It is believed to have derived from the Old English words "þunor" meaning "thunder" and "mund" meaning "protection" or "protector." This suggests that the name may have originally referred to someone who lived near a prominent hill or mound, which offered protection from thunderstorms.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as "Thurmund" in the county of Lincolnshire. This entry likely refers to a landowner or a person of some importance in the area during the Norman Conquest.
By the 13th century, variations of the name, such as "Thurmond" and "Thurman," began to appear in various records across England. These included the Hundred Rolls of Bedfordshire in 1273 and the Subsidy Rolls of Staffordshire in 1327.
The surname Thurmond was also associated with several place names in England, including Thurmond in Lancashire and Thurmond Grange in North Yorkshire. These locations may have been named after early bearers of the surname or vice versa.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the surname Thurmond was Sir John Thurmond, who was knighted in 1399 for his service to King Richard II. Another prominent figure was Sir Thomas Thurmond, who served as a member of Parliament for Gloucestershire in the late 15th century.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the surname Thurmond spread to other parts of the British Isles and beyond. In Scotland, there was a notable family of Thurmonds who held lands in Aberdeenshire, including John Thurmond (born around 1550) and his son, Alexander Thurmond (born around 1580).
In the American colonies, the Thurmond surname can be traced back to the late 17th century, with the arrival of several immigrants from England and Scotland. One of the earliest recorded individuals was William Thurmond, who settled in Virginia in 1679.
Other notable individuals with the Thurmond surname include Strom Thurmond (1902-2003), a long-serving United States Senator from South Carolina, and Walter Thurmond (1942-2021), an American boxer who won a gold medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Thurmond
Among Census respondents with the surname Thurmond, the largest self-reported group is White at 53.9%. The next largest groups are Black (37.2%) and Two or More Races (5.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Thurmond 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 Thurmond surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White53.9% · 3,070
- Black or African American37.2% · 2,118
- Two or more races5.2% · 297
- Hispanic or Latino2.7% · 156
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 36
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 16
Timeline
Historical Census data for Thurmond
Thurmond 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
#5,841
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,922
+170 bearers (+3.0%)
Per 100,000 2.01
Rank movement Down 291 places
2020
#5,849
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,693
-229 bearers (-3.9%)
Per 100,000 1.90
Rank movement Down 8 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #5,550 | 5,752 | 2.13 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #5,841 | 5,922 | 2.01 | +170 bearers (+3.0%) | Down 291 places |
| 2020 | #5,849 | 5,693 | 1.90 | -229 bearers (-3.9%) | Down 8 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 Thurmond 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 | #5,841 | #5,849 | -0.1% |
| Count | 5,922 | 5,693 | -3.9% |
| Per 100K | 2.01 | 1.90 | -5.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Thurmond bearers went from 5,922 to 5,693 (-3.9% change). The surname moved down 8 positions in the national ranking, going from #5,841 to #5,849.
FAQ
Thurmond surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Thurmond?
Name Census estimates that about 6,528 living Americans carry the surname Thurmond. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 52,505 residents.
How common is Thurmond?
Thurmond ranks #5,849 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.90 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 5,693 people with the surname Thurmond. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (6,528), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.9 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.90 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 Thurmond.
Has Thurmond become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Thurmond went from 5,922 recorded bearers to 5,693. That is a decrease of 229 (-3.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #5,841 to #5,849.
What does the Census say about the background of Thurmond?
Among Census respondents with the surname Thurmond, the largest self-reported group is White at 53.9%. The next largest groups are Black (37.2%) and Two or More Races (5.2%). 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 Thurmond in the 2020 Census, accounting for 53.9% (3,070 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Thurmond appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (53.9%), Black (37.2%), Two or More Races (5.2%). 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 Thurmond (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 Thurmond mean?
Derived from a place name meaning "thor's mound" in Old English, referring to a hill dedicated to the god Thor. 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 Thurmond (1.90 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 Thurmond?
See how many people are called Thurmond on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.