2000
#102
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 208,624
First available Census row
Per 100,000 77.34
Common Last name
Coleman
An occupational surname referring to someone who gathered or sold charcoal, or lived near a coal mine.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 242,256 Americans carry the last name Coleman. That puts it at #110 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 70.68 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 1,415 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Coleman 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 Coleman with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
242K
1 in 1,415
Census rank
#110
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
70.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
211K
common in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 211,259 bearers of the surname Coleman in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 70.68 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 110th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Coleman, the largest self-reported group is White at 47.6%. The next largest groups are Black (43.1%) and Two or More Races (5.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Coleman
The surname Coleman originated in England and Ireland during the medieval period. It is derived from the occupational name for a charcoal burner or collier, from the Old English word "col" meaning coal or charcoal. The name is also found with the spellings Colman, Colemon, Coullman, and Coulman.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name is in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as "Colman". This suggests the name was already well-established by the 11th century in parts of England.
In Ireland, the surname Coleman is an anglicized form of the Gaelic name "O'Colmain" or "O'Colman", which means "descendant of Colman". The name is particularly associated with County Sligo and County Mayo.
Notable people with the surname Coleman include William Coleman (c. 1609-1698), an English-born Puritan settler in America who founded the town of Nantucket, Massachusetts. Another early bearer was Edward Coleman (c. 1636-1678), an English Catholic involved in the Popish Plot against King Charles II.
In the 18th century, Benjamin Coleman (1734-1805) was an English-born architect and surveyor who designed several notable buildings in Boston, Massachusetts. The 19th century saw the birth of Samuel Coleman (1826-1900), an English-born businessman and philanthropist who founded the village of Coleman's Hatch in Sussex.
One of the most famous Colemans was Gary Coleman (1968-2010), an American actor best known for his childhood role on the sitcom "Diff'rent Strokes". Other notable bearers include Ornette Coleman (1930-2015), an American jazz saxophonist and composer, and Basil Coleman (1904-1995), an English actor.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Coleman
Among Census respondents with the surname Coleman, the largest self-reported group is White at 47.6%. The next largest groups are Black (43.1%) and Two or More Races (5.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Coleman 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 Coleman surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White47.6% · 100,652
- Black or African American43.1% · 91,071
- Two or more races5.0% · 10,596
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 6,884
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 1,080
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 976
Timeline
Historical Census data for Coleman
Coleman 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
#107
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 219,070
+10,446 bearers (+5.0%)
Per 100,000 74.27
Rank movement Down 5 places
2020
#110
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 211,259
-7,811 bearers (-3.6%)
Per 100,000 70.68
Rank movement Down 3 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #102 | 208,624 | 77.34 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #107 | 219,070 | 74.27 | +10,446 bearers (+5.0%) | Down 5 places |
| 2020 | #110 | 211,259 | 70.68 | -7,811 bearers (-3.6%) | Down 3 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 Coleman 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 | #107 | #110 | -2.8% |
| Count | 219,070 | 211,259 | -3.6% |
| Per 100K | 74.27 | 70.68 | -4.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Coleman bearers went from 219,070 to 211,259 (-3.6% change). The surname moved down 3 positions in the national ranking, going from #107 to #110.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Coleman
FAQ
Coleman surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Coleman?
Name Census estimates that about 242,256 living Americans carry the surname Coleman. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 1,415 residents.
How common is Coleman?
Coleman ranks #110 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Common." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 70.68 per 100,000 residents, which is about 71 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 211,259 people with the surname Coleman. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (242,256), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 70.68 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 70.68 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 71 of them to have the surname Coleman.
Has Coleman become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Coleman went from 219,070 recorded bearers to 211,259. That is a decrease of 7,811 (-3.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #107 to #110.
What does the Census say about the background of Coleman?
Among Census respondents with the surname Coleman, the largest self-reported group is White at 47.6%. The next largest groups are Black (43.1%) and Two or More Races (5.0%). 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 Coleman in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.6% (100,652 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Coleman appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (47.6%), Black (43.1%), Two or More Races (5.0%). 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 Coleman (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 Coleman mean?
An occupational surname referring to someone who gathered or sold charcoal, or lived near a coal mine. 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 Coleman (70.68 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 have the last name Coleman?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how common the surname Coleman is at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.