2000
#5,802
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,461
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.02
Rare Last name
Suter
An occupational surname referring to a shoemaker or cobbler.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 6,050 Americans carry the last name Suter. That puts it at #6,217 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.77 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 56,654 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Suter 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.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Suter with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
6.0K
1 in 56,654
Census rank
#6,217
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
5.3K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 5,276 bearers of the surname Suter in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.77 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 6217th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Suter, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.6%) and Hispanic (3.1%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Suter
The surname "SUTER" is of German and Anglo-Saxon origin, derived from the Old English word "sutere" which means shoemaker or cobbler. It is believed to have originated in the 12th century when surnames were first adopted in Europe.
The name is first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, a manuscript record of a great survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror. The entry "Radulfus Suter" refers to a shoemaker named Ralph living in Oxfordshire.
In the 13th century, the name appears in various spellings such as "Soutere", "Souter", and "Sowter" in medieval records across England and Scotland. One notable early bearer was Robert Soutere, a burgess of Aberdeen, Scotland, mentioned in records from 1295.
The name was also found in Germany, where it was spelled "Schuster" or "Schuster", derived from the same root word meaning shoemaker. One of the earliest recorded German bearers was Henrich der Schuster, a resident of Nuremberg in the 14th century.
Some notable historical figures with the surname Suter include:
1. John Suter (c. 1505-1564), an English Protestant reformer and clergyman who served as the Dean of Winchester Cathedral.
2. Konrad Suter (1718-1772), a Swiss mathematician and physicist who made significant contributions to the study of comets and celestial mechanics.
3. Johann Rudolf Suter (1766-1827), a Swiss painter known for his landscapes and portraits, considered one of the leading artists of the Swiss Romantic movement.
4. William Suter (1798-1873), a British architect and civil engineer who designed several notable buildings in London, including the iconic Buckingham Palace.
5. Albert Suter (1851-1949), a Swiss botanist and explorer who conducted extensive research on the flora of South Africa and discovered numerous new plant species.
The surname Suter has also been associated with various place names, such as Suter's Creek and Suter's Mill in Virginia, USA, named after early settlers with this surname in the 18th century.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Suter
Among Census respondents with the surname Suter, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.6%) and Hispanic (3.1%).
The bar chart below shows how Suter 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 Suter surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.4% · 4,771
- Two or more races3.6% · 188
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 164
- Black or African American1.8% · 95
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 43
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 15
Timeline
Historical Census data for Suter
Suter 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
#6,072
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,648
+187 bearers (+3.4%)
Per 100,000 1.91
Rank movement Down 270 places
2020
#6,217
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,276
-372 bearers (-6.6%)
Per 100,000 1.77
Rank movement Down 145 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #5,802 | 5,461 | 2.02 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #6,072 | 5,648 | 1.91 | +187 bearers (+3.4%) | Down 270 places |
| 2020 | #6,217 | 5,276 | 1.77 | -372 bearers (-6.6%) | Down 145 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 Suter 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 | #6,072 | #6,217 | -2.4% |
| Count | 5,648 | 5,276 | -6.6% |
| Per 100K | 1.91 | 1.77 | -7.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Suter bearers went from 5,648 to 5,276 (-6.6% change). The surname moved down 145 positions in the national ranking, going from #6,072 to #6,217.
FAQ
Suter surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Suter?
Name Census estimates that about 6,050 living Americans carry the surname Suter. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 56,654 residents.
How common is Suter?
Suter ranks #6,217 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.77 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 5,276 people with the surname Suter. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (6,050), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.77 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.77 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Suter.
Has Suter become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Suter went from 5,648 recorded bearers to 5,276. That is a decrease of 372 (-6.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #6,072 to #6,217.
What does the Census say about the background of Suter?
Among Census respondents with the surname Suter, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.6%) and Hispanic (3.1%). 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 Suter in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.4% (4,771 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Suter appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (90.4%), Two or More Races (3.6%), Hispanic (3.1%). 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 Suter (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 Suter mean?
An occupational surname referring to a shoemaker or cobbler. 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 Suter (1.77 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 are called Suter?
If you just want to know how many people are called Suter, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.