2000
#12,405
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,295
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.85
Rare Last name
Torrance
A Scottish locational surname derived from a place near Stirling, likely meaning "hill of the thicket" in Gaelic.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,579 Americans carry the last name Torrance. That puts it at #13,040 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.75 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 132,902 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Torrance 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 Torrance with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
2.6K
1 in 132,902
Census rank
#13,040
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.2K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,249 bearers of the surname Torrance in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.75 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 13040th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Torrance, the largest self-reported group is White at 73.7%. The next largest groups are Black (18.7%) and Two or More Races (3.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Torrance
The surname Torrance is of Scottish origin, originating from the lands of Torrance in East Kilbride, Lanarkshire. It is derived from the Gaelic words "torr" meaning a hill or mount, and "innis" meaning a peninsula or meadow.
The Torrance name can be traced back to the 12th century when a family of that name held lands in Lanarkshire. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name appears in the Ragman Rolls of 1296, which lists those who swore fealty to Edward I of England. An entry for "Willelmus de Torance" is found among the names.
In the 16th century, the Torrance family became prominent landowners in Lanarkshire. Records from this period show a Sir John Torrance of Campsie who lived in the late 1500s. Another notable figure was Sir Robert Torrance, who served as Lord Provost of Glasgow in the early 1600s.
The Torrance name is also found in various historical documents such as the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland from the 14th and 15th centuries, where the spelling variations "Torrans" and "Torrence" appear. The name is associated with the lands of Torrance near the village of Cambuslang, which was originally known as "Tor-an-inch" meaning the hill of the peninsula.
Among the famous individuals with the Torrance surname is Samuel Torrance (1712-1784), a Scottish merchant and writer who published several works on trade and commerce. Another notable figure is Sir David Torrance (1805-1865), a Scottish physician and inventor who developed the percussion cap for firearms.
In the literary world, Archibald Torrance (1873-1938) was a Scottish writer and poet known for his works on Scottish culture and history. More recently, Gene Torrance (1915-2003) was an American psychologist and educator renowned for his research on human intelligence and creativity.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Torrance
Among Census respondents with the surname Torrance, the largest self-reported group is White at 73.7%. The next largest groups are Black (18.7%) and Two or More Races (3.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Torrance 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 Torrance surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.7% · 1,657
- Black or African American18.7% · 420
- Two or more races3.6% · 82
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 74
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 3
Timeline
Historical Census data for Torrance
Torrance 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
#13,023
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,358
+63 bearers (+2.7%)
Per 100,000 0.80
Rank movement Down 618 places
2020
#13,040
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,249
-109 bearers (-4.6%)
Per 100,000 0.75
Rank movement Down 17 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #12,405 | 2,295 | 0.85 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #13,023 | 2,358 | 0.80 | +63 bearers (+2.7%) | Down 618 places |
| 2020 | #13,040 | 2,249 | 0.75 | -109 bearers (-4.6%) | Down 17 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 Torrance 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 | #13,023 | #13,040 | -0.1% |
| Count | 2,358 | 2,249 | -4.6% |
| Per 100K | 0.80 | 0.75 | -5.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Torrance bearers went from 2,358 to 2,249 (-4.6% change). The surname moved down 17 positions in the national ranking, going from #13,023 to #13,040.
FAQ
Torrance surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Torrance?
Name Census estimates that about 2,579 living Americans carry the surname Torrance. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 132,902 residents.
How common is Torrance?
Torrance ranks #13,040 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.75 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,249 people with the surname Torrance. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,579), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.75 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.75 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Torrance.
Has Torrance become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Torrance went from 2,358 recorded bearers to 2,249. That is a decrease of 109 (-4.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #13,023 to #13,040.
What does the Census say about the background of Torrance?
Among Census respondents with the surname Torrance, the largest self-reported group is White at 73.7%. The next largest groups are Black (18.7%) and Two or More Races (3.6%). 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 Torrance in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.7% (1,657 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Torrance appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (73.7%), Black (18.7%), Two or More Races (3.6%). 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 Torrance (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 Torrance mean?
A Scottish locational surname derived from a place near Stirling, likely meaning "hill of the thicket" in Gaelic. 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 Torrance (0.75 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 Torrance?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.