2000
#45,829
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 439
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.16
Very Rare Last name
Poitier
A surname derived from the French region of Poitou, indicating origin or residence.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 674 Americans carry the last name Poitier. That puts it at #40,219 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.20 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 508,538 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Poitier 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
674
1 in 508,538
Census rank
#40,219
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
588
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 588 bearers of the surname Poitier in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.20 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 40219th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Poitier, the largest self-reported group is Black at 84.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.8%) and White (5.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Poitier
The surname Poitier originates from the French region of Poitou, in the west-central part of the country. It emerged as a locational surname in the 12th century, denoting someone who hailed from the town or village of Poitiers, the capital of the Poitou region.
The name Poitiers itself derives from the Latin Pictavium, which was the Roman name for the area. Pictavium, in turn, is believed to have roots in the Gallic language spoken by the indigenous tribes of the region before Roman conquest and settlement.
One of the earliest known references to the surname Poitier can be found in the Cartulaire de l'Abbaye de Redon, a medieval manuscript from the 9th century, which mentions a certain "Rainaldus Pictaviensis" (Rainald of Poitiers).
In the 11th century, the famous Domesday Book, a survey of landowners in England commissioned by William the Conqueror, records several individuals with the name Poitevin, a variant of Poitier.
A notable figure in history bearing the Poitier surname was Sir William Poitier, a 14th-century English knight who fought in the Hundred Years' War between England and France. He was born around 1320 and died in 1396.
Another prominent individual with this surname was Jacques Poitier, a French lawyer and political philosopher who lived from 1546 to 1616. He was a vocal advocate for religious tolerance and freedom of conscience during the Wars of Religion in France.
In the 18th century, Marie-Isabelle Poitier was a French botanist and illustrator, born in 1720 and died in 1799. She is renowned for her beautiful illustrations of plants and flowers, which were published in several botanical works of her time.
Moving to the 19th century, Jean-Baptiste Poitier was a French architect and engineer, born in 1818 and died in 1897. He was responsible for designing several notable buildings and infrastructure projects in Paris and other French cities.
Finally, one of the most famous individuals with the Poitier surname is Sir Sidney Poitier, the acclaimed Bahamian-American actor, director, and diplomat. Born in 1927, he was the first Black actor to win the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1964 for his role in the film "Lilies of the Field."
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Poitier
Among Census respondents with the surname Poitier, the largest self-reported group is Black at 84.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.8%) and White (5.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Poitier 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 Poitier surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American84.4% · 496
- Two or more races6.8% · 40
- White5.4% · 32
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 18
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Poitier
Poitier 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
#41,359
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 526
+87 bearers (+19.8%)
Per 100,000 0.18
Rank movement Up 4,470 places
2020
#40,219
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 588
+62 bearers (+11.8%)
Per 100,000 0.20
Rank movement Up 1,140 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #45,829 | 439 | 0.16 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #41,359 | 526 | 0.18 | +87 bearers (+19.8%) | Up 4,470 places |
| 2020 | #40,219 | 588 | 0.20 | +62 bearers (+11.8%) | Up 1,140 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 Poitier 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 | #41,359 | #40,219 | 2.8% |
| Count | 526 | 588 | 11.8% |
| Per 100K | 0.18 | 0.20 | 9.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Poitier bearers went from 526 to 588 (+11.8% change). The surname moved up 1,140 positions in the national ranking, going from #41,359 to #40,219.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Poitier
FAQ
Poitier surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Poitier?
Name Census estimates that about 674 living Americans carry the surname Poitier. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 508,538 residents.
How common is Poitier?
Poitier ranks #40,219 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.20 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 588 people with the surname Poitier. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (674), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.2 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.20 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 Poitier.
Has Poitier become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Poitier went from 526 recorded bearers to 588. That is an increase of 62 (+11.8%). In the national ranking it rose from #41,359 to #40,219.
What does the Census say about the background of Poitier?
Among Census respondents with the surname Poitier, the largest self-reported group is Black at 84.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.8%) and White (5.4%). 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?
Black is the largest self-reported group for the surname Poitier in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.4% (496 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Poitier appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Black (84.4%), Two or More Races (6.8%), White (5.4%). 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 Poitier (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 Poitier mean?
A surname derived from the French region of Poitou, indicating origin or residence. 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 Poitier (0.20 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 Americans have the surname Poitier?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.