2000
#4,690
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,908
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.56
Rare Last name
Tibbs
Derived from a nickname for a person with a cheerful, pleasant disposition or a fine singing voice.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 8,005 Americans carry the last name Tibbs. That puts it at #4,897 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.34 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 42,818 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Tibbs 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 Tibbs with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
8.0K
1 in 42,818
Census rank
#4,897
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.3
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
7.0K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 6,981 bearers of the surname Tibbs in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.34 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 4897th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Tibbs, the largest self-reported group is White at 59.5%. The next largest groups are Black (31.2%) and Two or More Races (5.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Tibbs
The surname Tibbs is of English origin, derived from the medieval given name Theobald, which itself comes from the Germanic elements "theud" meaning "people" and "bald" meaning "bold" or "brave." The name first emerged in the 12th century in various parts of England, including Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and Norfolk.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the Tibbs surname can be found in the Feet of Fines for Norfolk, dated 1195, which mentions a Robert Tybbs. The name also appears in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273, listing a John Tebbe in Oxfordshire. Over time, the name underwent various spelling variations, such as Tibb, Tybbe, Tybbes, and Tibbes, before settling on the modern form of Tibbs.
The Tibbs surname has its roots in several place names across England, including Tibshelf in Derbyshire, which was once known as Tibdeshelf, derived from the Old English words "tibb" meaning "a strip of ground" and "scelfe" meaning "ledge" or "shelf." Additionally, the name may have originated from the lost village of Tibbs, which was located near the town of Newmarket in Suffolk.
Historically, the Tibbs surname has been associated with several notable individuals. One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name was Richard Tibbs, a member of the English Parliament who represented the borough of Wallingford in Berkshire in 1335. Another prominent figure was Sir Robert Tibbs, a 16th-century merchant and alderman of the City of London, who served as Lord Mayor in 1568.
In the literary realm, the name Tibbs is perhaps most famously associated with the character of Beau Tibbs, a character in Oliver Goldsmith's 1773 novel "The Vicar of Wakefield." Beau Tibbs was a charming but impoverished man who made up for his lack of wealth with his wit and charm.
Other notable individuals bearing the surname Tibbs include:
1. Thomas Tibbs (1692-1760), an English engraver and portrait painter.
2. Henry Tibbs (1770-1847), an English architect and surveyor, known for his work on the Tivoli Gardens in London.
3. Samuel Tibbs (1826-1891), an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire.
4. Mary Tibbs (1873-1952), an English suffragette and activist for women's rights.
5. Sammy Tibbs (1920-2002), an American jazz drummer and bandleader, active in the swing and bebop eras.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tibbs
Among Census respondents with the surname Tibbs, the largest self-reported group is White at 59.5%. The next largest groups are Black (31.2%) and Two or More Races (5.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Tibbs 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 Tibbs surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White59.5% · 4,153
- Black or African American31.2% · 2,175
- Two or more races5.8% · 405
- Hispanic or Latino2.3% · 164
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 47
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 37
Timeline
Historical Census data for Tibbs
Tibbs 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
#4,835
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,294
+386 bearers (+5.6%)
Per 100,000 2.47
Rank movement Down 145 places
2020
#4,897
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,981
-313 bearers (-4.3%)
Per 100,000 2.34
Rank movement Down 62 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #4,690 | 6,908 | 2.56 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #4,835 | 7,294 | 2.47 | +386 bearers (+5.6%) | Down 145 places |
| 2020 | #4,897 | 6,981 | 2.34 | -313 bearers (-4.3%) | Down 62 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 Tibbs 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 | #4,835 | #4,897 | -1.3% |
| Count | 7,294 | 6,981 | -4.3% |
| Per 100K | 2.47 | 2.34 | -5.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Tibbs bearers went from 7,294 to 6,981 (-4.3% change). The surname moved down 62 positions in the national ranking, going from #4,835 to #4,897.
FAQ
Tibbs surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Tibbs?
Name Census estimates that about 8,005 living Americans carry the surname Tibbs. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 42,818 residents.
How common is Tibbs?
Tibbs ranks #4,897 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.34 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 6,981 people with the surname Tibbs. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (8,005), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2.34 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.34 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 Tibbs.
Has Tibbs become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Tibbs went from 7,294 recorded bearers to 6,981. That is a decrease of 313 (-4.3%). In the national ranking it fell from #4,835 to #4,897.
What does the Census say about the background of Tibbs?
Among Census respondents with the surname Tibbs, the largest self-reported group is White at 59.5%. The next largest groups are Black (31.2%) and Two or More Races (5.8%). 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 Tibbs in the 2020 Census, accounting for 59.5% (4,153 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Tibbs appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (59.5%), Black (31.2%), Two or More Races (5.8%). 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 Tibbs (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 Tibbs mean?
Derived from a nickname for a person with a cheerful, pleasant disposition or a fine singing voice. 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 Tibbs (2.34 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 Americans have the surname Tibbs?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.