2000
#3,999
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 8,158
First available Census row
Per 100,000 3.02
Rare Last name
Sturgill
Derived from a place name meaning "sturgeon hill" in Old English, likely referring to a person's residence.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 9,059 Americans carry the last name Sturgill. That puts it at #4,344 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.64 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 37,836 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Sturgill 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
9.1K
1 in 37,836
Census rank
#4,344
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
7.9K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 7,900 bearers of the surname Sturgill in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.64 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 4344th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Sturgill, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.5%) and Hispanic (1.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Sturgill
The surname Sturgill is believed to have originated in Germany, possibly in the region of Bavaria or Saxony, during the Middle Ages. It is thought to be derived from the Old German words "stur" meaning "sturdy" or "strong" and "gill" meaning a ravine or narrow valley, suggesting that the name may have referred to a person who lived near a sturdy or strong ravine.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae, a collection of medieval documents from Saxony, where a person named Sturgillus is mentioned in a charter dated 1185. This suggests that the name was in use in that region at least as early as the 12th century.
In the 13th century, the name appears in various forms, such as Sturgil, Sturgill, and Sturghyll, in various German records and chronicles. One notable example is the mention of a Henricus Sturgill in the Annales Bambergenses, a chronicle from the city of Bamberg, in the year 1249.
As the name spread across Europe, it also appeared in different spellings and variations. In England, for instance, the name is recorded as Sturgill, Sturgell, and Sturgal, among others, in various parish records and tax rolls from the 16th and 17th centuries.
One of the earliest known individuals with the surname Sturgill was Johannes Sturgill, a German landowner and farmer who lived in the village of Rothenburg in the late 15th century. Another notable figure was Hans Sturgill, a German soldier who fought in the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) and is mentioned in several military records from that period.
In the United States, the name Sturgill can be traced back to the 18th century, with early settlers likely arriving from Germany or England. One of the first recorded instances is that of John Sturgill, who was born in Virginia in 1742 and served in the American Revolutionary War.
Another prominent figure was William Sturgill (1782-1865), a pioneer and frontiersman who settled in Kentucky and played a role in the early exploration and settlement of the region. His descendants, including his son James Sturgill (1819-1901), continued to be influential in the area.
In more recent history, the surname Sturgill has been associated with several notable individuals, such as the American country music singer and songwriter Sturgill Simpson, born in 1978, and the American politician and lawyer James Sturgill, who served as a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives in the early 20th century.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sturgill
Among Census respondents with the surname Sturgill, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.5%) and Hispanic (1.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Sturgill 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 Sturgill surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.6% · 7,393
- Two or more races3.5% · 280
- Hispanic or Latino1.5% · 121
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 49
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 33
- Black or African American0.3% · 24
Timeline
Historical Census data for Sturgill
Sturgill 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
#4,196
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 8,444
+286 bearers (+3.5%)
Per 100,000 2.86
Rank movement Down 197 places
2020
#4,344
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,900
-544 bearers (-6.4%)
Per 100,000 2.64
Rank movement Down 148 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #3,999 | 8,158 | 3.02 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #4,196 | 8,444 | 2.86 | +286 bearers (+3.5%) | Down 197 places |
| 2020 | #4,344 | 7,900 | 2.64 | -544 bearers (-6.4%) | Down 148 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 Sturgill 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 | #4,196 | #4,344 | -3.5% |
| Count | 8,444 | 7,900 | -6.4% |
| Per 100K | 2.86 | 2.64 | -7.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Sturgill bearers went from 8,444 to 7,900 (-6.4% change). The surname moved down 148 positions in the national ranking, going from #4,196 to #4,344.
FAQ
Sturgill surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Sturgill?
Name Census estimates that about 9,059 living Americans carry the surname Sturgill. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 37,836 residents.
How common is Sturgill?
Sturgill ranks #4,344 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.64 per 100,000 residents, which is about 3 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 7,900 people with the surname Sturgill. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (9,059), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2.64 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.64 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 3 of them to have the surname Sturgill.
Has Sturgill become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Sturgill went from 8,444 recorded bearers to 7,900. That is a decrease of 544 (-6.4%). In the national ranking it fell from #4,196 to #4,344.
What does the Census say about the background of Sturgill?
Among Census respondents with the surname Sturgill, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.5%) and Hispanic (1.5%). 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 Sturgill in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.6% (7,393 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Sturgill appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.6%), Two or More Races (3.5%), Hispanic (1.5%). 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 Sturgill (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 Sturgill mean?
Derived from a place name meaning "sturgeon hill" in Old English, likely referring to a person's 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 Sturgill (2.64 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 Sturgill?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.