2000
#1,009
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 31,686
First available Census row
Per 100,000 11.75
Uncommon Last name
Lancaster
An English locational surname referring to Lancaster, a county town in Lancashire, England, derived from the River Lune.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 35,876 Americans carry the last name Lancaster. That puts it at #1,104 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 10.47 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 9,554 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Lancaster 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 Lancaster with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
36K
1 in 9,554
Census rank
#1,104
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
10.5
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
31K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 31,286 bearers of the surname Lancaster in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 10.47 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 1104th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Lancaster, the largest self-reported group is White at 81.0%. The next largest groups are Black (9.7%) and Two or More Races (4.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Lancaster
The surname Lancaster originates from the county of Lancashire in North West England. It is an Old English surname derived from the combination of the words "lanca" meaning "ridge" or "hillside" and "ceaster" meaning "Roman town or camp". The name refers to the ancient Roman settlement of Longovicum, which became modern-day Lancaster.
The earliest recorded spelling of the name appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Loncastre". Other early spellings include Lancastre, Loncastre, and Loncastreshire. The first known bearer of the surname was Gospatric, Earl of Northumbria, who was recorded as "Gospatric de Lancastre" in the 12th century.
The House of Lancaster was a royal house of English nobility that played a significant role in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars fought between the Houses of Lancaster and York over the English throne from 1455 to 1487. Notable members of the House of Lancaster include King Henry IV (1367-1413), who seized the throne in 1399, and his son King Henry V (1386-1422), the victor of the Battle of Agincourt.
Other notable historical figures with the surname Lancaster include John of Lancaster (1389-1435), 1st Duke of Bedford and regent of France during the Hundred Years' War; Sir James Lancaster (c.1554-1618), an English navigator and explorer who led expeditions to the East Indies; and Edward Gavin Lancaster (1838-1915), a British artist and painter.
In the United States, the surname Lancaster can be traced back to early settlers of British descent. One of the earliest recorded bearers was Daniel Lancaster (c.1660-1736), a Quaker from Lancashire, England, who settled in Pennsylvania in the late 17th century. Another notable American with the surname was Joseph Lancaster (1778-1838), an educator and pioneer of the monitorial system of education.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lancaster
Among Census respondents with the surname Lancaster, the largest self-reported group is White at 81.0%. The next largest groups are Black (9.7%) and Two or More Races (4.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Lancaster 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 Lancaster surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.0% · 25,356
- Black or African American9.7% · 3,022
- Two or more races4.3% · 1,342
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 1,110
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 262
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 194
Timeline
Historical Census data for Lancaster
Lancaster 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
#1,080
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 32,362
+676 bearers (+2.1%)
Per 100,000 10.97
Rank movement Down 71 places
2020
#1,104
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 31,286
-1,076 bearers (-3.3%)
Per 100,000 10.47
Rank movement Down 24 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #1,009 | 31,686 | 11.75 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #1,080 | 32,362 | 10.97 | +676 bearers (+2.1%) | Down 71 places |
| 2020 | #1,104 | 31,286 | 10.47 | -1,076 bearers (-3.3%) | Down 24 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 Lancaster 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 | #1,080 | #1,104 | -2.2% |
| Count | 32,362 | 31,286 | -3.3% |
| Per 100K | 10.97 | 10.47 | -4.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Lancaster bearers went from 32,362 to 31,286 (-3.3% change). The surname moved down 24 positions in the national ranking, going from #1,080 to #1,104.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Lancaster
FAQ
Lancaster surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Lancaster?
Name Census estimates that about 35,876 living Americans carry the surname Lancaster. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 9,554 residents.
How common is Lancaster?
Lancaster ranks #1,104 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 10.47 per 100,000 residents, which is about 10 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 31,286 people with the surname Lancaster. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (35,876), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 10.47 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 10.47 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 10 of them to have the surname Lancaster.
Has Lancaster become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Lancaster went from 32,362 recorded bearers to 31,286. That is a decrease of 1,076 (-3.3%). In the national ranking it fell from #1,080 to #1,104.
What does the Census say about the background of Lancaster?
Among Census respondents with the surname Lancaster, the largest self-reported group is White at 81.0%. The next largest groups are Black (9.7%) and Two or More Races (4.3%). 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 Lancaster in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.0% (25,356 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Lancaster appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (81.0%), Black (9.7%), Two or More Races (4.3%). 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 Lancaster (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 Lancaster mean?
An English locational surname referring to Lancaster, a county town in Lancashire, England, derived from the River Lune. 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 Lancaster (10.47 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 Lancaster?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the surname Lancaster on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.