2000
#5,697
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,583
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.07
Rare Last name
Treadwell
An English occupational surname referring to someone who worked at a treadmill or a fulling mill.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 6,418 Americans carry the last name Treadwell. That puts it at #5,930 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.87 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 53,405 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Treadwell 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 Treadwell with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
6.4K
1 in 53,405
Census rank
#5,930
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
5.6K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 5,597 bearers of the surname Treadwell in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.87 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 5930th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Treadwell, the largest self-reported group is White at 63.3%. The next largest groups are Black (26.0%) and Two or More Races (5.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Treadwell
The surname Treadwell is of English origin, originating from the Old English words 'trod', meaning a path or track, and 'well', referring to a spring or source of water. It likely originated as a topographic name, identifying someone who lived near a well-trodden path or track leading to a water source.
The earliest recorded instances of the name date back to the late 12th century, with references found in the Pipe Rolls of Lincolnshire and the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire from the late 1100s and early 1200s, respectively. These early records suggest the name may have first emerged in these areas of central and eastern England.
In the Domesday Book of 1086, a landowner named Tredewelle is mentioned as holding lands in Berkshire, which could be an early spelling variation of the name Treadwell. This indicates the name's presence in southern England during the Norman period.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the surname Treadwell was John Treadwell, who was born around 1415 in Balsham, Cambridgeshire. Another early bearer of the name was William Treadwell, born circa 1490 in Oxfordshire.
In the 16th century, the Treadwell family established themselves in the county of Essex, with records showing the marriage of Thomas Treadwell and Elizabeth Warde in 1558 in Great Waltham, Essex. This branch of the Treadwell family later produced notable figures such as John Treadwell (1609-1672), who served as the Lord Mayor of London in 1667.
In the 17th century, the Treadwell surname spread to the American colonies, with Thomas Treadwell (1609-1672) being one of the earliest Treadwells to settle in Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1630s. His descendants went on to become prominent citizens in various parts of New England.
Other notable individuals with the surname Treadwell include Daniel Treadwell (1791-1872), an American inventor and mechanical engineer who patented several innovations in the textile industry, and Moses Treadwell (1768-1833), a Massachusetts politician and jurist who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Treadwell
Among Census respondents with the surname Treadwell, the largest self-reported group is White at 63.3%. The next largest groups are Black (26.0%) and Two or More Races (5.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Treadwell 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 Treadwell surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White63.3% · 3,543
- Black or African American26.0% · 1,455
- Two or more races5.3% · 295
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 213
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 55
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 36
Timeline
Historical Census data for Treadwell
Treadwell 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
#5,897
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,851
+268 bearers (+4.8%)
Per 100,000 1.98
Rank movement Down 200 places
2020
#5,930
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,597
-254 bearers (-4.3%)
Per 100,000 1.87
Rank movement Down 33 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #5,697 | 5,583 | 2.07 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #5,897 | 5,851 | 1.98 | +268 bearers (+4.8%) | Down 200 places |
| 2020 | #5,930 | 5,597 | 1.87 | -254 bearers (-4.3%) | Down 33 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 Treadwell 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 | #5,897 | #5,930 | -0.6% |
| Count | 5,851 | 5,597 | -4.3% |
| Per 100K | 1.98 | 1.87 | -5.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Treadwell bearers went from 5,851 to 5,597 (-4.3% change). The surname moved down 33 positions in the national ranking, going from #5,897 to #5,930.
FAQ
Treadwell surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Treadwell?
Name Census estimates that about 6,418 living Americans carry the surname Treadwell. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 53,405 residents.
How common is Treadwell?
Treadwell ranks #5,930 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.87 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 5,597 people with the surname Treadwell. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (6,418), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.87 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.87 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 Treadwell.
Has Treadwell become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Treadwell went from 5,851 recorded bearers to 5,597. That is a decrease of 254 (-4.3%). In the national ranking it fell from #5,897 to #5,930.
What does the Census say about the background of Treadwell?
Among Census respondents with the surname Treadwell, the largest self-reported group is White at 63.3%. The next largest groups are Black (26.0%) and Two or More Races (5.3%). 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 Treadwell in the 2020 Census, accounting for 63.3% (3,543 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Treadwell appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (63.3%), Black (26.0%), Two or More Races (5.3%). 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 Treadwell (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 Treadwell mean?
An English occupational surname referring to someone who worked at a treadmill or a fulling mill. 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 Treadwell (1.87 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 Treadwell?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.