2000
#8,362
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,637
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.35
Rare Last name
Trail
An English topographic surname referring to someone who lived near a trail or pathway.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 4,093 Americans carry the last name Trail. That puts it at #8,817 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.19 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 83,742 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Trail 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 Trail with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
4.1K
1 in 83,742
Census rank
#8,817
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
3.6K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 3,569 bearers of the surname Trail in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.19 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 8817th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Trail, the largest self-reported group is White at 84.6%. The next largest groups are Black (8.0%) and Two or More Races (3.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Trail
The surname Trail is of English origin, derived from the Old English word "treil," meaning a trail or a path. This name is believed to have originated in the 12th century and was initially given as a descriptive name to someone who lived near a trail or a well-trodden path.
The earliest recorded instance of the surname Trail appears in the Pipe Rolls of Lincolnshire in 1202, where a person named William Trail is mentioned. In the 13th century, the name was also found in various records, including the Hundred Rolls of Huntingdonshire in 1273, which mention a Walter Trahil.
The Trail surname is closely associated with the village of Trail, located in Derbyshire, England. This place name, first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Trailei," is derived from the Old English words "treil" and "leah," meaning a trail or path and a woodland clearing, respectively.
One of the earliest known bearers of the Trail surname was Sir Thomas Trail, a 14th-century English knight who served under King Edward III during the Hundred Years' War. He was born around 1300 and died in 1349.
Another notable figure was Walter Trail (c. 1572-1636), an English clergyman and academic who served as the Master of University College, Oxford, from 1621 until his death.
In the 17th century, the Trail surname gained prominence with the birth of Robert Trail (1642-1716), a Scottish minister and theologian. He was a notable figure in the Church of Scotland and played a significant role in the Covenanting movement.
The name also has connections to the United States, with Benjamin Trail (1779-1859) being one of the earliest recorded bearers of the surname in America. He was a pioneer and early settler in Ohio.
Another prominent American with the Trail surname was David Trail (1806-1890), a politician and lawyer from Virginia who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1837 to 1843.
These examples demonstrate the long and diverse history of the Trail surname, which has its roots in the English countryside and has since spread to various parts of the world, with notable individuals bearing this name contributing to various fields throughout history.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Trail
Among Census respondents with the surname Trail, the largest self-reported group is White at 84.6%. The next largest groups are Black (8.0%) and Two or More Races (3.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Trail 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 Trail surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White84.6% · 3,020
- Black or African American8.0% · 286
- Two or more races3.2% · 114
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 103
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 27
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 19
Timeline
Historical Census data for Trail
Trail 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
#8,084
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,101
+464 bearers (+12.8%)
Per 100,000 1.39
Rank movement Up 278 places
2020
#8,817
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,569
-532 bearers (-13.0%)
Per 100,000 1.19
Rank movement Down 733 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #8,362 | 3,637 | 1.35 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #8,084 | 4,101 | 1.39 | +464 bearers (+12.8%) | Up 278 places |
| 2020 | #8,817 | 3,569 | 1.19 | -532 bearers (-13.0%) | Down 733 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 Trail 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 | #8,084 | #8,817 | -9.1% |
| Count | 4,101 | 3,569 | -13.0% |
| Per 100K | 1.39 | 1.19 | -14.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Trail bearers went from 4,101 to 3,569 (-13.0% change). The surname moved down 733 positions in the national ranking, going from #8,084 to #8,817.
FAQ
Trail surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Trail?
Name Census estimates that about 4,093 living Americans carry the surname Trail. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 83,742 residents.
How common is Trail?
Trail ranks #8,817 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.19 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 3,569 people with the surname Trail. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (4,093), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.19 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.19 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 Trail.
Has Trail become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Trail went from 4,101 recorded bearers to 3,569. That is a decrease of 532 (-13.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #8,084 to #8,817.
What does the Census say about the background of Trail?
Among Census respondents with the surname Trail, the largest self-reported group is White at 84.6%. The next largest groups are Black (8.0%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Trail in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.6% (3,020 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Trail appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (84.6%), Black (8.0%), Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Trail (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 Trail mean?
An English topographic surname referring to someone who lived near a trail or pathway. 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 Trail (1.19 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 Trail?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.