2000
#20,099
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,234
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.46
Rare Last name
Arcand
A French surname of uncertain origin, possibly derived from a regional French place name.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 1,290 Americans carry the last name Arcand. That puts it at #23,309 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.38 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 265,701 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Arcand 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
1.3K
1 in 265,701
Census rank
#23,309
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.4
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.1K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,125 bearers of the surname Arcand in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.38 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 23309th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Arcand, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.3%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (2.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Arcand
The surname ARCAND is of French origin, originating in the historical region of Normandy in northern France during the medieval period. It is believed to be derived from the Old French word "arcant," which means "resident of the Arc" or "dweller at the Arc." The Arc was a specific locality or place name within Normandy.
ARCAND is a variant spelling of the French surname Arcant, which itself is a locational name referring to someone who lived near a prominent arc or arch structure, such as a bridge or gateway. The earliest recorded instances of the name Arcant date back to the late 11th century in Normandy.
One of the earliest known references to the surname ARCAND can be found in the ancient records of the town of Bayeux, located in the Calvados department of Normandy. These records, dating back to the 13th century, mention an individual named Raoul Arcand who was a landowner in the region.
In the 14th century, a manuscript from the Abbey of Saint-Étienne in Caen, Normandy, mentions a monk named Frère Jean Arcand who was a member of the monastic community. This is one of the earliest known examples of the ARCAND spelling variation.
During the 16th century, a notable figure with the surname ARCAND was Pierre Arcand, a French merchant and explorer who participated in several expeditions to the New World, including expeditions to Canada and the West Indies in the 1540s and 1550s.
Another historically significant individual with this surname was François Arcand (1670-1742), a French military officer and colonist who served as the Governor of the French colony of Saint-Domingue (now Haiti) from 1728 to 1732.
In the 18th century, Jean-Baptiste Arcand (1739-1814) was a prominent French-Canadian farmer and landowner in the region of Quebec, where the surname became well-established among French-Canadian families.
Throughout the centuries, the ARCAND surname has been found in various regions of France, as well as in French-speaking communities across Canada, particularly in Quebec and other parts of eastern Canada where many French settlers immigrated.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Arcand
Among Census respondents with the surname Arcand, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.3%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (2.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Arcand 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 Arcand surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.4% · 1,028
- Two or more races4.3% · 48
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.0% · 23
- Hispanic or Latino1.6% · 18
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 8
Timeline
Historical Census data for Arcand
Arcand 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
#20,758
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,273
+39 bearers (+3.2%)
Per 100,000 0.43
Rank movement Down 659 places
2020
#23,309
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,125
-148 bearers (-11.6%)
Per 100,000 0.38
Rank movement Down 2,551 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #20,099 | 1,234 | 0.46 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #20,758 | 1,273 | 0.43 | +39 bearers (+3.2%) | Down 659 places |
| 2020 | #23,309 | 1,125 | 0.38 | -148 bearers (-11.6%) | Down 2,551 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 Arcand 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 | #20,758 | #23,309 | -12.3% |
| Count | 1,273 | 1,125 | -11.6% |
| Per 100K | 0.43 | 0.38 | -12.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Arcand bearers went from 1,273 to 1,125 (-11.6% change). The surname moved down 2,551 positions in the national ranking, going from #20,758 to #23,309.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Arcand
FAQ
Arcand surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Arcand?
Name Census estimates that about 1,290 living Americans carry the surname Arcand. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 265,701 residents.
How common is Arcand?
Arcand ranks #23,309 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.38 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 1,125 people with the surname Arcand. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (1,290), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.38 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.38 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 Arcand.
Has Arcand become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Arcand went from 1,273 recorded bearers to 1,125. That is a decrease of 148 (-11.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #20,758 to #23,309.
What does the Census say about the background of Arcand?
Among Census respondents with the surname Arcand, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.3%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (2.0%). 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 Arcand in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.4% (1,028 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Arcand appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (91.4%), Two or More Races (4.3%), American Indian/Alaska Native (2.0%). 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 Arcand (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 Arcand mean?
A French surname of uncertain origin, possibly derived from a regional French place name. 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 Arcand (0.38 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 Arcand?
You can see how common the surname Arcand is on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.