2000
#15,731
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,704
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.63
Rare Last name
Savard
A French surname with origins indicating person hailed from an area with woods or forests.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 1,804 Americans carry the last name Savard. That puts it at #17,556 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.53 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 189,997 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Savard 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
1.8K
1 in 189,997
Census rank
#17,556
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.5
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.6K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,573 bearers of the surname Savard in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.53 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 17556th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Savard, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.5%) and Hispanic (3.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Savard
The surname Savard has its origins in France and dates back to the 11th century. It is derived from the Old French word "sauvart," which means "wild boar." This suggests that the name may have initially been a nickname for someone who displayed characteristics associated with a wild boar, such as strength, ferocity, or aggressiveness.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Savard can be found in historical documents from the region of Normandy in northern France. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Raoul Savard, a Norman knight who participated in the Norman Conquest of England in 1066.
During the Middle Ages, the Savard family established themselves as landowners and nobles in various parts of France. The name is also closely associated with the town of Savard, located in the department of Eure-et-Loir, which may have been named after the family or vice versa.
Notable historical figures with the surname Savard include Jacques Savard, a French philosopher and theologian who lived in the 16th century (born around 1520, died in 1587). Another prominent individual was Pierre Savard, a French explorer and cartographer who accompanied Jacques Cartier on his voyages to North America in the 1530s.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, several members of the Savard family immigrated to various French colonies, including Canada and the Caribbean islands. One notable figure from this period was Jean-Baptiste Savard, a French-Canadian merchant and landowner who played a significant role in the development of the city of Quebec in the late 17th century (born in 1652, died in 1727).
Another notable figure was Marie-Anne Savard, a French-Canadian nun who founded the Congregation of the Sisters of the Presentation of Mary in 1796 (born in 1750, died in 1827). Her order was dedicated to providing education for young girls in rural areas of Quebec.
Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, the Savard name continued to be prominent in various fields, including politics, literature, and the arts. For example, French writer and journalist Félix Savard (born in 1876, died in 1932) was a prominent figure in the literary circles of Paris during the early 20th century.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Savard
Among Census respondents with the surname Savard, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.5%) and Hispanic (3.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Savard 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 Savard surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.0% · 1,415
- Two or more races4.5% · 70
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 59
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 11
- Black or African American0.3% · 4
Timeline
Historical Census data for Savard
Savard 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
#16,525
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,738
+34 bearers (+2.0%)
Per 100,000 0.59
Rank movement Down 794 places
2020
#17,556
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,573
-165 bearers (-9.5%)
Per 100,000 0.53
Rank movement Down 1,031 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #15,731 | 1,704 | 0.63 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #16,525 | 1,738 | 0.59 | +34 bearers (+2.0%) | Down 794 places |
| 2020 | #17,556 | 1,573 | 0.53 | -165 bearers (-9.5%) | Down 1,031 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 Savard 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 | #16,525 | #17,556 | -6.2% |
| Count | 1,738 | 1,573 | -9.5% |
| Per 100K | 0.59 | 0.53 | -10.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Savard bearers went from 1,738 to 1,573 (-9.5% change). The surname moved down 1,031 positions in the national ranking, going from #16,525 to #17,556.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Savard
FAQ
Savard surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Savard?
Name Census estimates that about 1,804 living Americans carry the surname Savard. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 189,997 residents.
How common is Savard?
Savard ranks #17,556 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.53 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 1,573 people with the surname Savard. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (1,804), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.53 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.53 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Savard.
Has Savard become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Savard went from 1,738 recorded bearers to 1,573. That is a decrease of 165 (-9.5%). In the national ranking it fell from #16,525 to #17,556.
What does the Census say about the background of Savard?
Among Census respondents with the surname Savard, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.5%) and Hispanic (3.8%). 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 Savard in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.0% (1,415 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Savard appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (90.0%), Two or More Races (4.5%), Hispanic (3.8%). 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 Savard (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 Savard mean?
A French surname with origins indicating person hailed from an area with woods or forests. 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 Savard (0.53 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 Savard?
You can see how many people have the last name Savard on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.