2010
#153,769
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 106
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Tranchant
A surname derived from the French word meaning sharp or cutting.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 132 Americans carry the last name Tranchant. That puts it at #145,757 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,596,624 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Tranchant 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
132
1 in 2,596,624
Census rank
#145,757
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
115
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 115 bearers of the surname Tranchant in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 145757th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Tranchant, the largest self-reported group is Black at 43.5%. The next largest groups are White (41.7%) and Hispanic (10.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Tranchant
The surname TRANCHANT originated in France and can be traced back to the early Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old French word "trenchant," meaning "cutting" or "sharp," which itself comes from the Latin word "truncare," meaning "to cut off."
The earliest known reference to the name TRANCHANT appears in records from the 12th century in the region of Normandy, where it was likely used as a descriptive surname for someone whose occupation involved cutting or sharpening tools or weapons.
In the 13th century, the name TRANCHANT appears in the Cartulaire de l'abbaye de Saint-Père de Chartres, a collection of medieval manuscripts from the Abbey of Saint-Père in Chartres, France. This suggests that the name was already well-established in the region by that time.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the surname TRANCHANT was Jean Tranchant, a merchant from Paris who lived in the late 14th century. Another notable bearer of the name was Pierre Tranchant, a French soldier who fought in the Hundred Years' War in the early 15th century.
In the 16th century, the name TRANCHANT was associated with several notable figures, including Jacques Tranchant (1510-1589), a French poet and translator, and François Tranchant (1541-1599), a French jurist and legal scholar.
During the 17th century, the name TRANCHANT was found in various regions of France, including Burgundy, where it was often spelled as "Trenchand" or "Trenchant." One prominent individual from this period was Jean-Baptiste Tranchant (1623-1700), a French priest and writer who served as the rector of the University of Paris.
In the 18th century, the surname TRANCHANT was associated with several notable military figures, such as Charles-François Tranchant (1724-1796), a French general who served in the Seven Years' War and the French Revolutionary Wars.
As the name TRANCHANT spread across France and beyond, it underwent various spelling variations, including Tranchand, Trenchand, and Tranchant. These variations reflect the regional dialects and linguistic changes that occurred over time.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tranchant
Among Census respondents with the surname Tranchant, the largest self-reported group is Black at 43.5%. The next largest groups are White (41.7%) and Hispanic (10.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Tranchant 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 Tranchant surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American43.5% · 50
- White41.7% · 48
- Hispanic or Latino10.4% · 12
- Two or more races3.5% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Tranchant
Tranchant appears in 2 published Census surname files: 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2020
#145,757
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 115
+9 bearers (+8.5%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 8,012 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #153,769 | 106 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #145,757 | 115 | 0.04 | +9 bearers (+8.5%) | Up 8,012 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 Tranchant 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 | #153,769 | #145,757 | 5.2% |
| Count | 106 | 115 | 8.5% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -3.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Tranchant bearers went from 106 to 115 (+8.5% change). The surname moved up 8,012 positions in the national ranking, going from #153,769 to #145,757.
FAQ
Tranchant surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Tranchant?
Name Census estimates that about 132 living Americans carry the surname Tranchant. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,596,624 residents.
How common is Tranchant?
Tranchant ranks #145,757 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 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 115 people with the surname Tranchant. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (132), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 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 Tranchant.
Has Tranchant become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Tranchant went from 106 recorded bearers to 115. That is an increase of 9 (+8.5%). In the national ranking it rose from #153,769 to #145,757.
What does the Census say about the background of Tranchant?
Among Census respondents with the surname Tranchant, the largest self-reported group is Black at 43.5%. The next largest groups are White (41.7%) and Hispanic (10.4%). 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 Tranchant in the 2020 Census, accounting for 43.5% (50 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Tranchant appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Black (43.5%), White (41.7%), Hispanic (10.4%). 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 Tranchant (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 Tranchant mean?
A surname derived from the French word meaning sharp or cutting. 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 Tranchant (0.04 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 Tranchant?
Want to know how many people have the surname Tranchant? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.