2000
#81,414
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 216
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.08
Very Rare Last name
Presberry
A locational surname derived from the place name meaning "priest's berry" or "priest's manor."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 289 Americans carry the last name Presberry. That puts it at #81,047 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.08 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 1,186,001 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Presberry 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
289
1 in 1,186,001
Census rank
#81,047
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.1
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
252
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 252 bearers of the surname Presberry in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.08 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 81047th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Presberry, the largest self-reported group is Black at 83.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (9.1%) and Hispanic (3.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Presberry
The surname PRESBERRY is believed to have originated in England during the late medieval period. It is thought to be derived from the Old English words "preost" meaning priest and "bury" meaning a fortified town or dwelling place. This suggests that the name may have initially referred to a dwelling or settlement associated with a priest or member of the clergy.
Early recorded instances of variations of the name can be found in historical records from the 13th and 14th centuries. For example, the spelling "Prestbury" appears in the Feet of Fines for Essex in 1272, referring to a location. Similar place names like Prestbury in Cheshire and Gloucestershire also existed during this time period.
The earliest known bearer of the surname itself was William Presberry, who was mentioned in tax records from the village of Chetwood in Buckinghamshire in 1379. Other early examples include John Pressbury, recorded in the Parliament Rolls of 1437, and Thomas Presberry, whose name appears in the Register of the Gild of the Holy Cross in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1490.
Notable individuals with the PRESBERRY surname throughout history include:
1. Sir Richard Presberry (c.1530-1598), an English politician who served as a Member of Parliament for Warwickshire in 1589.
2. Elizabeth Presberry (1633-1702), an early American settler who was among the first Puritan colonists in Massachusetts Bay Colony.
3. Captain James Presberry (1712-1781), a British naval officer who served during the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War.
4. Reverend William Presberry (1785-1857), an English clergyman and author who published several religious texts in the early 19th century.
5. Alice Presberry (1888-1973), a British educator and women's rights advocate who campaigned for equal opportunities in education and employment.
While the surname PRESBERRY is not among the most common in English-speaking countries, it has a long and varied history spanning several centuries and can be traced back to its probable origins in medieval England.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Presberry
Among Census respondents with the surname Presberry, the largest self-reported group is Black at 83.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (9.1%) and Hispanic (3.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Presberry 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 Presberry surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American83.3% · 210
- Two or more races9.1% · 23
- Hispanic or Latino3.6% · 9
- White3.2% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Presberry
Presberry 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
#79,598
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 239
+23 bearers (+10.6%)
Per 100,000 0.08
Rank movement Up 1,816 places
2020
#81,047
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 252
+13 bearers (+5.4%)
Per 100,000 0.08
Rank movement Down 1,449 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #81,414 | 216 | 0.08 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #79,598 | 239 | 0.08 | +23 bearers (+10.6%) | Up 1,816 places |
| 2020 | #81,047 | 252 | 0.08 | +13 bearers (+5.4%) | Down 1,449 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 Presberry 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 | #79,598 | #81,047 | -1.8% |
| Count | 239 | 252 | 5.4% |
| Per 100K | 0.08 | 0.08 | 5.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Presberry bearers went from 239 to 252 (+5.4% change). The surname moved down 1,449 positions in the national ranking, going from #79,598 to #81,047.
FAQ
Presberry surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Presberry?
Name Census estimates that about 289 living Americans carry the surname Presberry. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 1,186,001 residents.
How common is Presberry?
Presberry ranks #81,047 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.08 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 252 people with the surname Presberry. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (289), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.08 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.08 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 Presberry.
Has Presberry become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Presberry went from 239 recorded bearers to 252. That is an increase of 13 (+5.4%). In the national ranking it fell from #79,598 to #81,047.
What does the Census say about the background of Presberry?
Among Census respondents with the surname Presberry, the largest self-reported group is Black at 83.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (9.1%) and Hispanic (3.6%). 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 Presberry in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.3% (210 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Presberry appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Black (83.3%), Two or More Races (9.1%), Hispanic (3.6%). 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 Presberry (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 Presberry mean?
A locational surname derived from the place name meaning "priest's berry" or "priest's manor." 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 Presberry (0.08 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 share the surname Presberry?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.