2000
#28,353
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 793
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.29
Very Rare Last name
Tidball
A variant of the occupational surname "Tidewell," referring to one who worked in a tidal area.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 851 Americans carry the last name Tidball. That puts it at #33,102 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.25 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 402,767 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Tidball 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 Tidball with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
851
1 in 402,767
Census rank
#33,102
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
742
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 742 bearers of the surname Tidball in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.25 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 33102nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Tidball, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.8%) and Black (2.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Tidball
The surname Tidball originated in England in the late 12th century. It is derived from the Old English words "tid" meaning time and "ball" meaning ball or spherical object. The name likely referred to someone who kept or measured time, perhaps a bell ringer or an early clockmaker.
Tidball was first found in county records from Somerset and Gloucestershire in southwest England dating back to the late 1100s. Similar early spellings included Tidebal, Tydeball, and Tyddeball. The name does not appear in the famous Domesday Book of 1086 as it emerged slightly later.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Robert Tidball, a landowner in Somerset mentioned in tax records from 1272. In 1319, a John Tydeball is recorded as living in the village of Cheddar in Somerset.
The Tidball name spread gradually across southern England over the following centuries. Nicholas Tydball was born around 1425 in the town of Marshfield, Gloucestershire. He worked as a church bell ringer. Separate records show a Thomas Tiddeball was a clockmaker in Bristol in 1487.
Moving into the 1600s, Edward Tidball (1619-1695) was a well-known Puritan minister who preached in Wapping, London. He published several religious texts attacking the Church of England. Around the same time, Lieutenant Joseph Tidball (1628-1713) fought for Parliament forces in the English Civil War.
Later examples include the artist John Tidball (1768-1829) who painted portraits of British nobility, and Thomas Tidball (1794-1868), an officer in the Royal Horse Artillery who fought at the Battle of Waterloo against Napoleon in 1815.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tidball
Among Census respondents with the surname Tidball, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.8%) and Black (2.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Tidball 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 Tidball surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.2% · 684
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 28
- Black or African American2.2% · 16
- Two or more races1.6% · 12
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Tidball
Tidball 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
#31,211
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 743
-50 bearers (-6.3%)
Per 100,000 0.25
Rank movement Down 2,858 places
2020
#33,102
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 742
-1 bearers (-0.1%)
Per 100,000 0.25
Rank movement Down 1,891 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #28,353 | 793 | 0.29 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #31,211 | 743 | 0.25 | -50 bearers (-6.3%) | Down 2,858 places |
| 2020 | #33,102 | 742 | 0.25 | -1 bearers (-0.1%) | Down 1,891 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 Tidball 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 | #31,211 | #33,102 | -6.1% |
| Count | 743 | 742 | -0.1% |
| Per 100K | 0.25 | 0.25 | -0.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Tidball bearers went from 743 to 742 (-0.1% change). The surname moved down 1,891 positions in the national ranking, going from #31,211 to #33,102.
FAQ
Tidball surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Tidball?
Name Census estimates that about 851 living Americans carry the surname Tidball. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 402,767 residents.
How common is Tidball?
Tidball ranks #33,102 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.25 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 742 people with the surname Tidball. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (851), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.25 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.25 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 Tidball.
Has Tidball become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Tidball went from 743 recorded bearers to 742. That is a decrease of 1 (-0.1%). In the national ranking it fell from #31,211 to #33,102.
What does the Census say about the background of Tidball?
Among Census respondents with the surname Tidball, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.8%) and Black (2.2%). 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 Tidball in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.2% (684 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Tidball appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.2%), Hispanic (3.8%), Black (2.2%). 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 Tidball (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 Tidball mean?
A variant of the occupational surname "Tidewell," referring to one who worked in a tidal area. 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 Tidball (0.25 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 share the surname Tidball?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.