2000
#608
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 50,628
First available Census row
Per 100,000 18.77
Uncommon Last name
Vincent
Derived from the Latin name Vincentius, meaning "conquering" or "victorious."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 58,860 Americans carry the last name Vincent. That puts it at #647 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 17.17 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 5,823 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Vincent 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 Vincent with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
59K
1 in 5,823
Census rank
#647
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
17.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
51K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 51,329 bearers of the surname Vincent in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 17.17 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 647th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Vincent, the largest self-reported group is White at 75.7%. The next largest groups are Black (13.9%) and Hispanic (4.1%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Vincent
The surname Vincent originated in France, derived from the Latin name Vincentius, which itself comes from the Latin word vincens, meaning "conquering" or "overcoming." It can be traced back to the 3rd century AD.
The earliest recorded instances of the name come from various regions of France, including Normandy, Brittany, and Provence. In the 11th century Domesday Book, a record of landowners in England after the Norman Conquest, there are references to individuals with the surname Vincent or similar spellings like Vincentius.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Saint Vincent of Saragossa, a 3rd-century Christian martyr from Spain who was executed during the Diocletian Persecution. Another notable early figure was Vincent of Lérins, a 5th-century Gallic monk and author who wrote the Commonitorium, an important work on the development of Christian doctrine.
In the Middle Ages, the surname Vincent was associated with several noble families in France, including the Seigneurs de Vinci in Provence, from which the famous Renaissance polymath Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) likely derived his surname.
Other notable historical figures with the surname Vincent include John Vincent (c. 1590-1671), an English writer and antiquary known for his work on English parish records; Gervase Vincent (1620-1698), an English Puritan minister and author; Nathaniel Vincent (1639-1697), an English Nonconformist minister and author; and Jean Vincent (1590-1649), a French Dominican friar and preacher.
The surname Vincent has also been associated with various place names in France, such as Vincennes, a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, and Vincentegem, a town in the Belgian province of East Flanders.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Vincent
Among Census respondents with the surname Vincent, the largest self-reported group is White at 75.7%. The next largest groups are Black (13.9%) and Hispanic (4.1%).
The bar chart below shows how Vincent 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 Vincent surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White75.7% · 38,841
- Black or African American13.9% · 7,158
- Hispanic or Latino4.1% · 2,088
- Two or more races4.0% · 2,067
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 906
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 269
Timeline
Historical Census data for Vincent
Vincent 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
#641
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 53,095
+2,467 bearers (+4.9%)
Per 100,000 18.00
Rank movement Down 33 places
2020
#647
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 51,329
-1,766 bearers (-3.3%)
Per 100,000 17.17
Rank movement Down 6 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #608 | 50,628 | 18.77 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #641 | 53,095 | 18.00 | +2,467 bearers (+4.9%) | Down 33 places |
| 2020 | #647 | 51,329 | 17.17 | -1,766 bearers (-3.3%) | Down 6 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 Vincent 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 | #641 | #647 | -0.9% |
| Count | 53,095 | 51,329 | -3.3% |
| Per 100K | 18.00 | 17.17 | -4.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Vincent bearers went from 53,095 to 51,329 (-3.3% change). The surname moved down 6 positions in the national ranking, going from #641 to #647.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Vincent
FAQ
Vincent surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Vincent?
Name Census estimates that about 58,860 living Americans carry the surname Vincent. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 5,823 residents.
How common is Vincent?
Vincent ranks #647 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 17.17 per 100,000 residents, which is about 17 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 51,329 people with the surname Vincent. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (58,860), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 17.17 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 17.17 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 17 of them to have the surname Vincent.
Has Vincent become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Vincent went from 53,095 recorded bearers to 51,329. That is a decrease of 1,766 (-3.3%). In the national ranking it fell from #641 to #647.
What does the Census say about the background of Vincent?
Among Census respondents with the surname Vincent, the largest self-reported group is White at 75.7%. The next largest groups are Black (13.9%) and Hispanic (4.1%). 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 Vincent in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.7% (38,841 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Vincent appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (75.7%), Black (13.9%), Hispanic (4.1%). 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 Vincent (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 Vincent mean?
Derived from the Latin name Vincentius, meaning "conquering" or "victorious." 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 Vincent (17.17 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 Vincent?
Want to know how many people have the last name Vincent? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.