2000
#4,470
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,301
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.71
Rare Last name
Warfield
A toponymic surname referring to someone who lived near a field used for war or military exercises.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 8,220 Americans carry the last name Warfield. That puts it at #4,784 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.40 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 41,698 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Warfield 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 Warfield with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
8.2K
1 in 41,698
Census rank
#4,784
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.4
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
7.2K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 7,168 bearers of the surname Warfield in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.40 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 4784th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Warfield, the largest self-reported group is White at 58.8%. The next largest groups are Black (30.8%) and Two or More Races (5.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Warfield
The surname Warfield is of English origin, derived from the Old English words "waer" meaning a weir or small dam, and "feld" meaning an open field or area of land. It is believed to have originated in the early medieval period, possibly as early as the 11th century.
The name is likely derived from a place name, referring to a location near a weir or dam on a river or stream. This could have been a specific village, town, or area where the name first arose and was adopted by those living there.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Warfield can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which documented landowners and property holdings across England after the Norman Conquest. This suggests that the name was established by the late 11th century.
In the 13th century, there are records of a Sir Hugh de Warfield, a knight who held lands in Berkshire, England. This spelling variation, "de Warfield," indicates that the name was still closely associated with a specific place at that time.
During the 14th century, the Warfield family was well-established in various parts of southern England, particularly in counties like Somerset and Wiltshire. Notable individuals from this period include John Warfield, a landowner in Somerset who was recorded in tax records from the late 1300s.
In the 16th century, the spelling of the name began to solidify into its modern form of "Warfield." One notable figure from this time was Sir Benjamin Warfield (1523-1589), a Member of Parliament and landowner in Berkshire.
The 17th century saw the Warfield name spread to other parts of England, as well as to the American colonies. Henry Warfield (1610-1676) was an early settler in Virginia, arriving in the 1630s and establishing a prominent family line in the region.
Other notable individuals with the surname Warfield throughout history include:
1. Benjamin B. Warfield (1851-1921), an influential American Presbyterian theologian and professor at Princeton Seminary.
2. William Warfield (1920-2002), an American opera singer and actor, best known for his portrayal of Porgy in the 1951 production of Porgy and Bess.
3. David Warfield (1866-1951), an American actor who starred in various Broadway productions in the early 20th century.
4. Catherine Warfield (1816-1877), an American writer and abolitionist who published under the pen name "Catharine Warfield."
5. Ralph E. Warfield (1915-2004), an American physicist and engineer who played a key role in the development of radar technology during World War II.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Warfield
Among Census respondents with the surname Warfield, the largest self-reported group is White at 58.8%. The next largest groups are Black (30.8%) and Two or More Races (5.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Warfield 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 Warfield surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White58.8% · 4,215
- Black or African American30.8% · 2,210
- Two or more races5.7% · 409
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 268
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 53
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 13
Timeline
Historical Census data for Warfield
Warfield 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
#4,758
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,443
+142 bearers (+1.9%)
Per 100,000 2.52
Rank movement Down 288 places
2020
#4,784
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,168
-275 bearers (-3.7%)
Per 100,000 2.40
Rank movement Down 26 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #4,470 | 7,301 | 2.71 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #4,758 | 7,443 | 2.52 | +142 bearers (+1.9%) | Down 288 places |
| 2020 | #4,784 | 7,168 | 2.40 | -275 bearers (-3.7%) | Down 26 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 Warfield 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 | #4,758 | #4,784 | -0.5% |
| Count | 7,443 | 7,168 | -3.7% |
| Per 100K | 2.52 | 2.40 | -4.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Warfield bearers went from 7,443 to 7,168 (-3.7% change). The surname moved down 26 positions in the national ranking, going from #4,758 to #4,784.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Warfield
FAQ
Warfield surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Warfield?
Name Census estimates that about 8,220 living Americans carry the surname Warfield. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 41,698 residents.
How common is Warfield?
Warfield ranks #4,784 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.40 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 7,168 people with the surname Warfield. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (8,220), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2.4 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.40 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 Warfield.
Has Warfield become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Warfield went from 7,443 recorded bearers to 7,168. That is a decrease of 275 (-3.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #4,758 to #4,784.
What does the Census say about the background of Warfield?
Among Census respondents with the surname Warfield, the largest self-reported group is White at 58.8%. The next largest groups are Black (30.8%) and Two or More Races (5.7%). 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 Warfield in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.8% (4,215 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Warfield appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (58.8%), Black (30.8%), Two or More Races (5.7%). 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 Warfield (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 Warfield mean?
A toponymic surname referring to someone who lived near a field used for war or military exercises. 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 Warfield (2.40 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 Warfield?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.