2000
#303
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 90,618
First available Census row
Per 100,000 33.59
Common Last name
Lambert
An English occupational surname for a maker of lambs or for a keeper of lambs.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 102,586 Americans carry the last name Lambert. That puts it at #342 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 29.93 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 3,341 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Lambert 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 Lambert with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
103K
1 in 3,341
Census rank
#342
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
29.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
89K
common in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 89,460 bearers of the surname Lambert in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 29.93 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 342nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Lambert, the largest self-reported group is White at 80.4%. The next largest groups are Black (10.1%) and Two or More Races (3.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Lambert
The surname Lambert is of French origin, derived from the Germanic personal name Landbehrt, which is composed of the elements "land" meaning "land" and "behrt" meaning "bright" or "illustrious." The name's earliest recorded use dates back to the 8th century in the Frankish Empire.
The name Lambert gained widespread recognition during the Middle Ages, with several notable individuals bearing it. One of the earliest references can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which recorded landowners in England after the Norman Conquest. The name appeared as Lambart, an early spelling variation.
In the 12th century, Lambert le Begue (c. 1122-1177) was a renowned French poet and trouvère (poet-composer) who composed chansons and pastourelles. His works were influential in the development of courtly love poetry.
During the 13th century, Lambert le Tor (c. 1210-1277) was a French painter and manuscript illuminator who worked in Paris. He is known for his illuminations in the Bible moralisée, a lavishly illustrated manuscript commissioned by King Louis IX of France.
In the 14th century, Lambert of Auxerre (c. 1340-1389) was a French scholar and theologian who wrote extensively on the Bible and theology. His works, such as the Rationale Operum Divinorum, had a significant impact on medieval scholarship.
The 16th century saw the birth of Lambert Daneau (1530-1596), a French Protestant theologian and reformer. He served as a professor of theology in Geneva and was a prominent figure in the Reformed Church.
Fast-forwarding to the 19th century, Johann Heinrich Lambert (1728-1777) was a Swiss-German mathematician, physicist, astronomer, and philosopher. He made significant contributions to various fields, including the development of hyperbolic functions and the calculation of π.
Throughout history, the surname Lambert has been associated with numerous place names, such as Lamberts, a commune in the Vosges department of France, and Lambert Island, an island off the coast of Antarctica.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lambert
Among Census respondents with the surname Lambert, the largest self-reported group is White at 80.4%. The next largest groups are Black (10.1%) and Two or More Races (3.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Lambert 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 Lambert surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White80.4% · 71,885
- Black or African American10.1% · 9,013
- Two or more races3.9% · 3,527
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 3,360
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 1,072
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 603
Timeline
Historical Census data for Lambert
Lambert 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
#329
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 93,678
+3,060 bearers (+3.4%)
Per 100,000 31.76
Rank movement Down 26 places
2020
#342
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 89,460
-4,218 bearers (-4.5%)
Per 100,000 29.93
Rank movement Down 13 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #303 | 90,618 | 33.59 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #329 | 93,678 | 31.76 | +3,060 bearers (+3.4%) | Down 26 places |
| 2020 | #342 | 89,460 | 29.93 | -4,218 bearers (-4.5%) | Down 13 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 Lambert 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 | #329 | #342 | -4.0% |
| Count | 93,678 | 89,460 | -4.5% |
| Per 100K | 31.76 | 29.93 | -5.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Lambert bearers went from 93,678 to 89,460 (-4.5% change). The surname moved down 13 positions in the national ranking, going from #329 to #342.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Lambert
FAQ
Lambert surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Lambert?
Name Census estimates that about 102,586 living Americans carry the surname Lambert. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 3,341 residents.
How common is Lambert?
Lambert ranks #342 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Common." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 29.93 per 100,000 residents, which is about 30 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 89,460 people with the surname Lambert. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (102,586), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 29.93 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 29.93 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 30 of them to have the surname Lambert.
Has Lambert become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Lambert went from 93,678 recorded bearers to 89,460. That is a decrease of 4,218 (-4.5%). In the national ranking it fell from #329 to #342.
What does the Census say about the background of Lambert?
Among Census respondents with the surname Lambert, the largest self-reported group is White at 80.4%. The next largest groups are Black (10.1%) and Two or More Races (3.9%). 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 Lambert in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.4% (71,885 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Lambert appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (80.4%), Black (10.1%), Two or More Races (3.9%). 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 Lambert (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 Lambert mean?
An English occupational surname for a maker of lambs or for a keeper of lambs. 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 Lambert (29.93 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 Lambert?
Find out how many Americans have the surname Lambert on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.