2000
#124,872
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 127
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.05
Very Rare Last name
Urbanus
A surname indicating connection to a town or city.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 122 Americans carry the last name Urbanus. That puts it at #152,339 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,809,462 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Urbanus 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
122
1 in 2,809,462
Census rank
#152,339
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
106
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 106 bearers of the surname Urbanus in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 152339th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Urbanus, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Urbanus
The surname Urbanus has its origins in medieval Italy, deriving from the Latin word "urbanus" which means "of the city" or "urbane." It emerged during the 12th and 13th centuries as a distinguishing name for individuals who lived within the confines of a city or town, as opposed to rural areas.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Urbanus can be found in various Italian municipal records and chronicles from the 13th century. One notable example is the Florentine chronicler Giovanni Villani, who mentions an individual named Urbanus de Castiglionchio in his historical accounts of the year 1260.
In the 14th century, the name Urbanus appeared in the tax records of the city-state of Siena, suggesting its continued use as a surname among urban dwellers in the region. A notable bearer of this name was Urbanus de Albizis, a prominent Sienese merchant and banker who lived between 1330 and 1395.
As the name Urbanus spread beyond Italy, it underwent various spelling variations, such as Urbain in France and Urban in Germany and England. One of the earliest known English bearers of this surname was William Urban, a landowner from Worcestershire mentioned in the Subsidy Rolls of 1327.
The Domesday Book, the great survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086, does not contain any direct references to the surname Urbanus, as it primarily recorded landowners and tenants by their given names or places of origin.
Other notable individuals with the surname Urbanus include:
1. Urbanus Curius (c. 1530-1600), a Dutch humanist and scholar known for his Latin translations of ancient Greek texts.
2. Urbanus Rhegius (1489-1541), a German Protestant reformer and colleague of Martin Luther.
3. Urbanus Regius (c. 1390-1437), a German theologian and professor at the University of Ingolstadt.
4. Urbanus Vitellius (c. 1534-1594), a Polish astronomer and mathematician who made significant contributions to the study of celestial mechanics.
5. Urbanus Plancius (1520-1597), a Flemish cartographer and theologian who played a crucial role in the early Dutch exploration of the Arctic regions.
While the surname Urbanus has its roots in medieval Italy, it has since spread to various parts of Europe and beyond, carried by individuals who embraced the urbane lifestyle or hailed from cities and towns.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Urbanus
Among Census respondents with the surname Urbanus, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Urbanus 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 Urbanus surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White94.3% · 100
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Urbanus
Urbanus 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
#144,141
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 115
-12 bearers (-9.4%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 19,269 places
2020
#152,339
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 106
-9 bearers (-7.8%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 8,198 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #124,872 | 127 | 0.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #144,141 | 115 | 0.04 | -12 bearers (-9.4%) | Down 19,269 places |
| 2020 | #152,339 | 106 | 0.04 | -9 bearers (-7.8%) | Down 8,198 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 Urbanus 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 | #144,141 | #152,339 | -5.7% |
| Count | 115 | 106 | -7.8% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -11.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Urbanus bearers went from 115 to 106 (-7.8% change). The surname moved down 8,198 positions in the national ranking, going from #144,141 to #152,339.
FAQ
Urbanus surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Urbanus?
Name Census estimates that about 122 living Americans carry the surname Urbanus. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,809,462 residents.
How common is Urbanus?
Urbanus ranks #152,339 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 106 people with the surname Urbanus. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (122), 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 Urbanus.
Has Urbanus become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Urbanus went from 115 recorded bearers to 106. That is a decrease of 9 (-7.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #144,141 to #152,339.
What does the Census say about the background of Urbanus?
Among Census respondents with the surname Urbanus, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.9%). 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 Urbanus in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.3% (100 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Urbanus appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (94.3%), Hispanic (3.8%), Asian/Pacific Islander (0.9%). 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 Urbanus (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 Urbanus mean?
A surname indicating connection to a town or city. 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 Urbanus (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 many Americans have the surname Urbanus?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.