2000
#6,601
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,737
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.76
Rare Last name
Torrey
Derived from a place name meaning "craggy hill" in Old English, or referring to someone from Toray, France.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 5,304 Americans carry the last name Torrey. That puts it at #7,004 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.55 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 64,622 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Torrey 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
5.3K
1 in 64,622
Census rank
#7,004
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.5
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
4.6K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 4,625 bearers of the surname Torrey in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.55 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 7004th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Torrey, the largest self-reported group is White at 82.0%. The next largest groups are Black (9.1%) and Hispanic (4.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Torrey
The surname Torrey originated in France and is derived from the Old French word "tor," meaning a hill or a rocky peak. The name is thought to have emerged in the early Middle Ages, around the 9th or 10th century.
The earliest recorded instances of the name can be traced back to the region of Normandy in northern France. The name was likely first adopted by families who lived near or owned land near a prominent hill or rocky outcrop.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Ralf de Torry, who was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, a comprehensive survey of land and property ownership in England commissioned by William the Conqueror. This suggests that the Torrey name had already been established in Normandy before the Norman Conquest of England in 1066.
In the centuries that followed, the Torrey name spread across various parts of Europe, with variations in spelling such as Torry, Torre, and Torrie appearing in different regions. Some notable individuals bearing the name include John Torrey (1796-1873), an American botanist and chemist who made significant contributions to the study of plant life in North America, and Raymond Torrey (1887-1962), an American psychologist and educator who was a pioneer in the field of educational psychology.
Other historical figures with the Torrey surname include Samuel Torrey (1631-1707), an English-born Puritan minister who served in Massachusetts and was involved in the Salem witch trials, and Reuben Torrey (1856-1928), an American evangelist and Bible scholar who co-founded the Bible Institute of Los Angeles (now Biola University).
The Torrey name has also been associated with several place names, such as Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve in California, named after the Torrey pine tree, which was named after the botanist John Torrey.
Overall, the surname Torrey has a rich history dating back to the Middle Ages in France, and its origins are closely tied to the geographical features of hills and rocky outcrops. Over the centuries, the name has spread across various parts of the world, with notable bearers contributing to fields such as botany, psychology, religion, and education.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Torrey
Among Census respondents with the surname Torrey, the largest self-reported group is White at 82.0%. The next largest groups are Black (9.1%) and Hispanic (4.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Torrey 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 Torrey surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.0% · 3,791
- Black or African American9.1% · 423
- Hispanic or Latino4.9% · 226
- Two or more races3.0% · 140
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 37
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 8
Timeline
Historical Census data for Torrey
Torrey 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
#6,739
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,004
+267 bearers (+5.6%)
Per 100,000 1.70
Rank movement Down 138 places
2020
#7,004
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,625
-379 bearers (-7.6%)
Per 100,000 1.55
Rank movement Down 265 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #6,601 | 4,737 | 1.76 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #6,739 | 5,004 | 1.70 | +267 bearers (+5.6%) | Down 138 places |
| 2020 | #7,004 | 4,625 | 1.55 | -379 bearers (-7.6%) | Down 265 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 Torrey 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 | #6,739 | #7,004 | -3.9% |
| Count | 5,004 | 4,625 | -7.6% |
| Per 100K | 1.70 | 1.55 | -9.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Torrey bearers went from 5,004 to 4,625 (-7.6% change). The surname moved down 265 positions in the national ranking, going from #6,739 to #7,004.
FAQ
Torrey surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Torrey?
Name Census estimates that about 5,304 living Americans carry the surname Torrey. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 64,622 residents.
How common is Torrey?
Torrey ranks #7,004 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.55 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 4,625 people with the surname Torrey. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (5,304), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.55 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.55 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 Torrey.
Has Torrey become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Torrey went from 5,004 recorded bearers to 4,625. That is a decrease of 379 (-7.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #6,739 to #7,004.
What does the Census say about the background of Torrey?
Among Census respondents with the surname Torrey, the largest self-reported group is White at 82.0%. The next largest groups are Black (9.1%) and Hispanic (4.9%). 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 Torrey in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.0% (3,791 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Torrey appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (82.0%), Black (9.1%), Hispanic (4.9%). 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 Torrey (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 Torrey mean?
Derived from a place name meaning "craggy hill" in Old English, or referring to someone from Toray, France. 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 Torrey (1.55 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 Torrey?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the surname Torrey at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.