2000
#344
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 81,824
First available Census row
Per 100,000 30.33
Uncommon Last name
Warner
An occupational surname referring to a guard or watchman.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 91,873 Americans carry the last name Warner. That puts it at #394 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 26.80 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 3,731 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Warner 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 Warner with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
92K
1 in 3,731
Census rank
#394
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
26.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
80K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 80,118 bearers of the surname Warner in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 26.80 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 394th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Warner, the largest self-reported group is White at 81.3%. The next largest groups are Black (10.1%) and Two or More Races (3.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Warner
The surname Warner is an occupational name that originated in England during the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old English word "warenor," which means "guard" or "keeper." This name was given to those who were responsible for guarding or overseeing something, such as a park or a manor.
In the Domesday Book of 1086, there are several references to individuals with the surname Warner, indicating that the name was already well-established by the late 11th century. Some of the earliest recorded examples of the name include William le Warner, who was listed in the Pipe Rolls of Shropshire in 1198, and Roger le Warner, who was mentioned in the Assize Rolls of Staffordshire in 1281.
The surname Warner was also associated with various place names in England, such as Warner's Hill in Gloucestershire and Warner's Woodlands in Buckinghamshire. These place names may have been derived from the name of an individual who once lived or worked in those areas.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the surname Warner was John Warner (c. 1580-1666), an English explorer and navigator who is credited with being one of the first settlers in Bermuda. Another famous Warner was Sir Thomas Warner (c. 1580-1649), an English colonist and politician who established the first English settlement on the island of St. Kitts in the West Indies.
In the United States, the surname Warner has been associated with several prominent figures throughout history. These include Seth Warner (1743-1784), an American Revolutionary War officer and one of the leaders of the Green Mountain Boys, and Charles Dudley Warner (1829-1900), an American writer and editor who co-authored the novel "The Gilded Age" with Mark Twain.
Other notable individuals with the surname Warner include William Warner (c. 1558-1609), an English poet and playwright who wrote the epic poem "Albion's England," and Susan Warner (1819-1885), an American novelist best known for her novel "The Wide, Wide World."
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Warner
Among Census respondents with the surname Warner, the largest self-reported group is White at 81.3%. The next largest groups are Black (10.1%) and Two or More Races (3.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Warner 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 Warner surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.3% · 65,119
- Black or African American10.1% · 8,120
- Two or more races3.8% · 3,051
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 2,691
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 645
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 492
Timeline
Historical Census data for Warner
Warner 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
#375
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 83,781
+1,957 bearers (+2.4%)
Per 100,000 28.40
Rank movement Down 31 places
2020
#394
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 80,118
-3,663 bearers (-4.4%)
Per 100,000 26.80
Rank movement Down 19 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #344 | 81,824 | 30.33 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #375 | 83,781 | 28.40 | +1,957 bearers (+2.4%) | Down 31 places |
| 2020 | #394 | 80,118 | 26.80 | -3,663 bearers (-4.4%) | Down 19 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 Warner 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 | #375 | #394 | -5.1% |
| Count | 83,781 | 80,118 | -4.4% |
| Per 100K | 28.40 | 26.80 | -5.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Warner bearers went from 83,781 to 80,118 (-4.4% change). The surname moved down 19 positions in the national ranking, going from #375 to #394.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Warner
FAQ
Warner surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Warner?
Name Census estimates that about 91,873 living Americans carry the surname Warner. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 3,731 residents.
How common is Warner?
Warner ranks #394 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 26.80 per 100,000 residents, which is about 27 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 80,118 people with the surname Warner. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (91,873), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 26.8 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 26.80 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 27 of them to have the surname Warner.
Has Warner become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Warner went from 83,781 recorded bearers to 80,118. That is a decrease of 3,663 (-4.4%). In the national ranking it fell from #375 to #394.
What does the Census say about the background of Warner?
Among Census respondents with the surname Warner, the largest self-reported group is White at 81.3%. The next largest groups are Black (10.1%) and Two or More Races (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 Warner in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.3% (65,119 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Warner appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (81.3%), Black (10.1%), Two or More Races (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 Warner (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 Warner mean?
An occupational surname referring to a guard or watchman. 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 Warner (26.80 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 Warner?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how common the surname Warner is at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.