Explore the Family Name Backs

The meaning of Backs

1. German (Westphalia): variant of Backhus. 2. Americanized form of Latvian Baks, a surname of German origin. 3. English (Kent): variant of Bax. This form is rare in Britain. 4. Dutch: possessive form of Back. Some characteristic forenames: German Guenther, Jochen.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Backs in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Backs saw a slight decline from 2000 to 2010. In 2000, Backs was ranked 43,157 in terms of surname prevalence, but it fell to 45,105 by 2010, reflecting a change of -4.51%. Despite this drop in rank, the actual count of individuals with this surname slightly increased from 472 in 2000 to 475 in 2010. The proportion per 100,000 people also experienced a minor decrease of 5.88%, moving from 0.17 in 2000 to 0.16 in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#43,157	#45,105	-4.51%
Count	472	475	0.64%
Proportion per 100k	0.17	0.16	-5.88%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Backs

Regarding ethnicity, the Decennial U.S. Census data indicates that the majority of individuals with the last name Backs identified as White in both 2000 and 2010, with a slight decrease of 2.58% over this period. In 2000, nearly 97.46% of those carrying the Backs surname were White, which lessened to 94.95% by 2010. The data for 2010 also shows minimal shifts in ethnic identity among those with the Backs surname: 1.47% identified as Black or as having two or more races, and 1.26% identified as Hispanic. There was no recorded change in the Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian and Alaskan Native categories.

	2000	2010	Change
White	97.46%	94.95%	-2.58%
Two or More Races	0%	1.47%	0%
Black	0%	1.47%	0%
Hispanic	0%	1.26%	0%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%