2000
#51,583
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 379
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.14
Very Rare Last name
Maltais
A surname derived from the French word for Maltese, referring to someone from the island of Malta.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 454 Americans carry the last name Maltais. That puts it at #55,864 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.13 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 754,966 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Maltais 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
454
1 in 754,966
Census rank
#55,864
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.1
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
396
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 396 bearers of the surname Maltais in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.13 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 55864th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Maltais, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.3%) and Two or More Races (2.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Maltais
The surname Maltais has its origins in the Mediterranean island nation of Malta. It first emerged in the late 11th century during the Norman conquest of the island. The name is derived from the Latin word "Melita," which was the ancient Roman name for Malta.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the Maltais surname can be found in a 1198 manuscript from the Knights of St. John, a Catholic military order that ruled over Malta for several centuries. The document mentions a knight named Robérs Maltais who participated in the Third Crusade.
During the Middle Ages, the Maltais name was sometimes spelled as "Maltese," reflecting the Italian influence on the island. This spelling variation can be seen in a 1362 record from the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, which lists a knight named Giovanni Maltese.
In the 15th century, the Maltais surname began to spread beyond Malta as members of the family migrated to other parts of Europe. One notable early bearer of the name was Jacques Maltais, a French explorer who led expeditions to the Caribbean in the 1490s.
Over the centuries, several prominent individuals have carried the Maltais surname. These include:
1. Jean-Baptiste Maltais (1616-1672), a French-Canadian settler and farmer who was one of the first Europeans to establish a permanent residence in what is now Quebec.
2. Marie-Anne Maltais (1738-1812), a French-Canadian midwife who assisted in the delivery of over 4,000 babies during her career.
3. Joseph Maltais (1858-1924), a Canadian politician who served as the Mayor of Quebec City from 1906 to 1908.
4. Louis Maltais (1879-1957), a French artist known for his landscape paintings of the Normandy region.
5. Marie-Claire Maltais (1930-2018), a Canadian novelist and playwright whose works explored themes of identity and belonging in the Francophone community.
While the Maltais name has its roots in the Mediterranean, it has since spread around the world, carried by generations of individuals with diverse backgrounds and accomplishments.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Maltais
Among Census respondents with the surname Maltais, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.3%) and Two or More Races (2.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Maltais 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 Maltais surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.7% · 371
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 13
- Two or more races2.5% · 10
- Black or African American0.3% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Maltais
Maltais 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
#49,087
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 429
+50 bearers (+13.2%)
Per 100,000 0.15
Rank movement Up 2,496 places
2020
#55,864
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 396
-33 bearers (-7.7%)
Per 100,000 0.13
Rank movement Down 6,777 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #51,583 | 379 | 0.14 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #49,087 | 429 | 0.15 | +50 bearers (+13.2%) | Up 2,496 places |
| 2020 | #55,864 | 396 | 0.13 | -33 bearers (-7.7%) | Down 6,777 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 Maltais 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 | #49,087 | #55,864 | -13.8% |
| Count | 429 | 396 | -7.7% |
| Per 100K | 0.15 | 0.13 | -11.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Maltais bearers went from 429 to 396 (-7.7% change). The surname moved down 6,777 positions in the national ranking, going from #49,087 to #55,864.
FAQ
Maltais surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Maltais?
Name Census estimates that about 454 living Americans carry the surname Maltais. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 754,966 residents.
How common is Maltais?
Maltais ranks #55,864 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.13 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 396 people with the surname Maltais. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (454), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.13 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.13 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 Maltais.
Has Maltais become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Maltais went from 429 recorded bearers to 396. That is a decrease of 33 (-7.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #49,087 to #55,864.
What does the Census say about the background of Maltais?
Among Census respondents with the surname Maltais, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.3%) and Two or More Races (2.5%). 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 Maltais in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.7% (371 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Maltais appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.7%), Hispanic (3.3%), Two or More Races (2.5%). 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 Maltais (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 Maltais mean?
A surname derived from the French word for Maltese, referring to someone from the island of Malta. 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 Maltais (0.13 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 Maltais?
Want to know how many Americans have the surname Maltais? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.