2000
#1,395
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 23,300
First available Census row
Per 100,000 8.64
Uncommon Last name
Tatum
Derived from an Old English place name meaning "Tata's homestead," referring to a settlement belonging to someone named Tata.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 26,828 Americans carry the last name Tatum. That puts it at #1,490 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 7.83 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 12,776 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Tatum 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 Tatum with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
27K
1 in 12,776
Census rank
#1,490
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
7.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
23K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 23,395 bearers of the surname Tatum in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 7.83 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 1490th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Tatum, the largest self-reported group is White at 52.8%. The next largest groups are Black (36.5%) and Two or More Races (5.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Tatum
The surname Tatum is of English origin, originating from the Old English personal name "Tata", which is thought to have derived from the Old English word "Tate", meaning a pleasant or cheerful person. The name was likely adopted as a surname during the Middle Ages, around the 12th or 13th century.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the Tatum surname can be found in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273, which lists a Richard Tatum residing in Norfolk, England. The surname was also present in other early records, such as the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire in 1301, where a John Tatum was mentioned.
The Tatum surname was particularly prevalent in the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Lincolnshire in England during the medieval period. It is believed that the name may have been derived from a place name or topographical feature, as was common with many English surnames of that era.
One notable historical figure bearing the Tatum surname was John Tatum (c. 1554-1616), an English clergyman and author who served as the Archdeacon of Bedford. Another early example is Robert Tatum (1600-1672), an English merchant and member of the Virginia Company who played a significant role in the early colonization of Virginia.
In the 17th century, several members of the Tatum family emigrated from England to the American colonies, including John Tatum (1615-1675), who settled in Virginia in 1635, and William Tatum (1628-1711), who arrived in Pennsylvania in the late 1600s. These early settlers helped establish the Tatum name in the New World.
One of the most famous individuals with the Tatum surname was Champ Tatum (1888-1945), an American baseball player who played for the Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians in the early 20th century. Another notable figure was Sidney Tatum (1892-1982), an American microbiologist and biochemist who made significant contributions to the understanding of bacterial metabolism and antibiotic resistance.
Other notable individuals with the Tatum surname include Edward Tatum (1909-1975), an American geneticist and biochemist who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1958 for his work on genetic regulation in bacteria, and Jack Tatum (1948-2010), a former American football player who played as a safety for the Oakland Raiders in the NFL during the 1970s.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tatum
Among Census respondents with the surname Tatum, the largest self-reported group is White at 52.8%. The next largest groups are Black (36.5%) and Two or More Races (5.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Tatum 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 Tatum surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White52.8% · 12,350
- Black or African American36.5% · 8,536
- Two or more races5.2% · 1,219
- Hispanic or Latino4.3% · 996
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 167
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 127
Timeline
Historical Census data for Tatum
Tatum 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
#1,451
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 24,558
+1,258 bearers (+5.4%)
Per 100,000 8.33
Rank movement Down 56 places
2020
#1,490
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 23,395
-1,163 bearers (-4.7%)
Per 100,000 7.83
Rank movement Down 39 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #1,395 | 23,300 | 8.64 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #1,451 | 24,558 | 8.33 | +1,258 bearers (+5.4%) | Down 56 places |
| 2020 | #1,490 | 23,395 | 7.83 | -1,163 bearers (-4.7%) | Down 39 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 Tatum 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 | #1,451 | #1,490 | -2.7% |
| Count | 24,558 | 23,395 | -4.7% |
| Per 100K | 8.33 | 7.83 | -6.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Tatum bearers went from 24,558 to 23,395 (-4.7% change). The surname moved down 39 positions in the national ranking, going from #1,451 to #1,490.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Tatum
FAQ
Tatum surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Tatum?
Name Census estimates that about 26,828 living Americans carry the surname Tatum. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 12,776 residents.
How common is Tatum?
Tatum ranks #1,490 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 7.83 per 100,000 residents, which is about 8 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 23,395 people with the surname Tatum. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (26,828), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 7.83 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 7.83 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 8 of them to have the surname Tatum.
Has Tatum become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Tatum went from 24,558 recorded bearers to 23,395. That is a decrease of 1,163 (-4.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #1,451 to #1,490.
What does the Census say about the background of Tatum?
Among Census respondents with the surname Tatum, the largest self-reported group is White at 52.8%. The next largest groups are Black (36.5%) and Two or More Races (5.2%). 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 Tatum in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.8% (12,350 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Tatum appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (52.8%), Black (36.5%), Two or More Races (5.2%). 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 Tatum (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 Tatum mean?
Derived from an Old English place name meaning "Tata's homestead," referring to a settlement belonging to someone named Tata. 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 Tatum (7.83 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 have the last name Tatum?
You can see how many Americans have the surname Tatum on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.