2000
#136,783
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 113
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Willemain
A French occupational surname meaning "willworkman" or "villageworkman".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 120 Americans carry the last name Willemain. That puts it at #152,989 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,856,286 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Willemain 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
120
1 in 2,856,286
Census rank
#152,989
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
105
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 105 bearers of the surname Willemain in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 152989th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Willemain, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.7%) and Two or More Races (1.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Willemain
The surname Willemains’ origins are rooted in medieval Europe, predominantly from regions that now constitute modern-day France and the Low Countries, including Belgium and the Netherlands. The name first began to appear during the late Middle Ages, around the 13th and 14th centuries. It is a patronymic surname, deriving from the given name Willem or William, which itself has origins in the Old Germanic name Willahelm composed of "wil," meaning will or desire, and "helm," meaning helmet or protection.
Willemain is derived from the Old French Guillaume and the respective diminutive suffix -in, signifying "son of William." Variants of the surname such as Willamein and Willemeyn appeared in historical documents, showing the adaptation of the name based on regional dialects and orthographic practices of the time. An early record cites a Jean Willomeyn living in the county of Flanders in the late 14th century, indicating some of the earliest known instances of the name.
While Willemains’ specific records are sparse in medieval manuscripts, it appeared prominently in tax records, church registers, and land deeds from the 17th century onward. One notable figure, Claude Willemain, born in 1623, served as a magistrate in the city of Rouen, playing a significant role in the legal system during his lifetime until his death in 1689. Another historic figure, Pierre-Antoine Willemain, was a prominent Parisian clockmaker known for his craftsmanship during the late 18th century.
In the realm of academia, Louis Willemain, a historian born in Brussels in 1815, contributed significantly to the documentation of Belgian history until his untimely death in 1850. Another noteworthy person, Jean Baptiste Willemain, who hailed from Lyon and lived during the mid-19th century, was a celebrated botanist with several plant species named after him. Lastly, the name surfaces again with Marguerite Willemain, a French opera singer born in 1875, who had a flourishing career in European opera houses until her retirement in the early 20th century.
The surname, while less common in contemporary records, reflects a heritage deeply intertwined with European history, illustrating the spread and adaptation of names through various cultural and linguistic landscapes.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Willemain
Among Census respondents with the surname Willemain, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.7%) and Two or More Races (1.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Willemain 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 Willemain surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.4% · 97
- Hispanic or Latino5.7% · 6
- Two or more races1.9% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Willemain
Willemain 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
#153,769
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 106
-7 bearers (-6.2%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 16,986 places
2020
#152,989
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 105
-1 bearers (-0.9%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 780 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #136,783 | 113 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #153,769 | 106 | 0.04 | -7 bearers (-6.2%) | Down 16,986 places |
| 2020 | #152,989 | 105 | 0.04 | -1 bearers (-0.9%) | Up 780 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 Willemain 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 | #152,989 | 0.5% |
| Count | 106 | 105 | -0.9% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -12.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Willemain bearers went from 106 to 105 (-0.9% change). The surname moved up 780 positions in the national ranking, going from #153,769 to #152,989.
FAQ
Willemain surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Willemain?
Name Census estimates that about 120 living Americans carry the surname Willemain. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,856,286 residents.
How common is Willemain?
Willemain ranks #152,989 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 105 people with the surname Willemain. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (120), 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 Willemain.
Has Willemain become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Willemain went from 106 recorded bearers to 105. That is a decrease of 1 (-0.9%). In the national ranking it rose from #153,769 to #152,989.
What does the Census say about the background of Willemain?
Among Census respondents with the surname Willemain, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.7%) and Two or More Races (1.9%). 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 Willemain in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.4% (97 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Willemain appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.4%), Hispanic (5.7%), Two or More Races (1.9%). 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 Willemain (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 Willemain mean?
A French occupational surname meaning "willworkman" or "villageworkman". 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 Willemain (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 Willemain?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.