2000
#4,743
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,833
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.53
Rare Last name
Toliver
Derived from the Old English personal name Tollifer, meaning "metalworker who specializes in making tools."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 8,106 Americans carry the last name Toliver. That puts it at #4,845 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.37 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 42,284 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Toliver 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
8.1K
1 in 42,284
Census rank
#4,845
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.4
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
7.1K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 7,069 bearers of the surname Toliver in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.37 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 4845th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Toliver, the largest self-reported group is Black at 66.6%. The next largest groups are White (22.6%) and Two or More Races (5.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Toliver
The surname Toliver has its origins in England, emerging in the late medieval period around the 13th or 14th century. It is derived from the Old English words "tol," meaning tax or toll, and "hfer," meaning heaver or bearer. The name likely referred to an occupation associated with collecting tolls or taxes.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name appears in the Lay Subsidy Rolls for Warwickshire in 1332, where a John Tollyver is mentioned. This suggests the name was already in use by the early 14th century in the Midlands region of England.
In the 15th century, variants of the name such as Tolyfer and Toliver crop up in various historical records across England, including parish registers and court rolls. Notable individuals from this era include William Toliver, a merchant from Bristol recorded in 1472, and John Tolyver, a landowner in Oxfordshire mentioned in a deed from 1487.
As the name spread and became more established, it experienced various spelling variations, including Toliver, Tolliver, Tolyver, and Tolivar. These variations likely arose due to regional pronunciations and the inconsistencies of spelling conventions in earlier centuries.
One notable early bearer of the name was Sir Samuel Toliver (1603-1671), an English politician who served as a Member of Parliament for Great Bedwyn during the Commonwealth period. He was a supporter of Oliver Cromwell and played a role in the English Civil War.
In the 18th century, the name gained prominence with the birth of William Toliver (1740-1819), a renowned English engraver and printmaker who produced intricate illustrations for various publications, including works by Shakespeare and Milton.
Another notable figure was James Toliver (1782-1857), a British naval officer who served in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars and later became an influential figure in maritime affairs, publishing several works on navigation and nautical subjects.
As the name spread beyond England, it also took root in other parts of the British Isles and later in British colonies. For instance, John Toliver (1820-1891) was a Scottish-born artist who emigrated to Canada and became known for his landscape paintings depicting the rugged beauty of the Canadian wilderness.
In the United States, one of the earliest recorded instances of the name is found in the 1790 census, where a Toliver family is listed as residing in Virginia. This likely reflects the movement of English settlers to the American colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Toliver
Among Census respondents with the surname Toliver, the largest self-reported group is Black at 66.6%. The next largest groups are White (22.6%) and Two or More Races (5.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Toliver 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 Toliver surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American66.6% · 4,707
- White22.6% · 1,597
- Two or more races5.8% · 413
- Hispanic or Latino4.0% · 284
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 50
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 18
Timeline
Historical Census data for Toliver
Toliver 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
#4,708
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,536
+703 bearers (+10.3%)
Per 100,000 2.55
Rank movement Up 35 places
2020
#4,845
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,069
-467 bearers (-6.2%)
Per 100,000 2.37
Rank movement Down 137 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #4,743 | 6,833 | 2.53 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #4,708 | 7,536 | 2.55 | +703 bearers (+10.3%) | Up 35 places |
| 2020 | #4,845 | 7,069 | 2.37 | -467 bearers (-6.2%) | Down 137 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 Toliver 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 | #4,708 | #4,845 | -2.9% |
| Count | 7,536 | 7,069 | -6.2% |
| Per 100K | 2.55 | 2.37 | -7.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Toliver bearers went from 7,536 to 7,069 (-6.2% change). The surname moved down 137 positions in the national ranking, going from #4,708 to #4,845.
FAQ
Toliver surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Toliver?
Name Census estimates that about 8,106 living Americans carry the surname Toliver. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 42,284 residents.
How common is Toliver?
Toliver ranks #4,845 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.37 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 7,069 people with the surname Toliver. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (8,106), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2.37 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.37 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 Toliver.
Has Toliver become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Toliver went from 7,536 recorded bearers to 7,069. That is a decrease of 467 (-6.2%). In the national ranking it fell from #4,708 to #4,845.
What does the Census say about the background of Toliver?
Among Census respondents with the surname Toliver, the largest self-reported group is Black at 66.6%. The next largest groups are White (22.6%) 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?
Black is the largest self-reported group for the surname Toliver in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.6% (4,707 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Toliver appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Black (66.6%), White (22.6%), 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 Toliver (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 Toliver mean?
Derived from the Old English personal name Tollifer, meaning "metalworker who specializes in making tools." 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 Toliver (2.37 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 are called Toliver?
You can see how many people have the surname Toliver on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.