Explore the Family Name Forbis

The meaning of Forbis

Scottish: variant of Forbes, reflecting the traditional pronunciation as two syllables.

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

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

According to the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname "Forbis" saw a slight decrease from 2000 to 2010. In 2000, it ranked 13,980 and by 2010, its rank had slipped to 14,591, marking a change of -4.37%. However, during the same time period, the count of individuals with the Forbis surname increased slightly from 1,981 to 2,040, indicating a 2.98% increase. The proportion per 100k people also dipped a bit, going from 0.73 in 2000 to 0.69 in 2010, showing a decline of 5.48%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#13,980	#14,591	-4.37%
Count	1,981	2,040	2.98%
Proportion per 100k	0.73	0.69	-5.48%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Forbis

The Decennial U.S. Census data also provides insight into the ethnicity associated with the Forbis surname. In 2000, the majority of those with the Forbis name identified as White (93.44%), followed by Black (1.92%), Hispanic (1.67%), American Indian and Alaskan Native (1.41%), Two or more races (0.91%), and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.66%). By 2010, while the majority still identified as White (92.25%), there were noticeable changes in some ethnic groups. Those identifying as Two or more races significantly increased to 2.40%, and those identifying as Black also saw an increase to 2.16%. Meanwhile, the percentage of those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander and American Indian and Alaskan Native saw decreases to 0.49% and 1.03% respectively. The percentage of those identifying as Hispanic remained the same at 1.67%.

	2000	2010	Change
White	93.44%	92.25%	-1.27%
Two or More Races	0.91%	2.4%	163.74%
Black	1.92%	2.16%	12.5%
Hispanic	1.67%	1.67%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	1.41%	1.03%	-26.95%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.66%	0.49%	-25.76%