Explore the Family Name Lenoir

The meaning of Lenoir

French: nickname for a dark-haired or swarthy individual, from noir ‘black’ with fused masculine definite article le. Some characteristic forenames: French Philippe, Blanchard, Cecile, Jacques, Margaux, Pascal, Pierre, Pierrette, Serge.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname Lenoir saw a slight increase between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it was ranked 9236 and by 2010, it moved up to 9222, marking a change of 0.15 percent. The count of individuals with this surname also rose from 3247 to 3534 in the same time period, which is an 8.84 percent increase. However, the proportion per 100,000 people remained stable at 1.2.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#9,236	#9,222	0.15%
Count	3,247	3,534	8.84%
Proportion per 100k	1.2	1.2	0%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Lenoir

The ethnic identity associated with the surname Lenoir has also seen some shifts over the decade, according to data from the Decennial U.S. Census. Between 2000 and 2010, those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander more than doubled from 0.15 to 0.28 percent. There was also a notable increase among those reporting two or more races, moving from 2.80 to 3.37 percent. The largest group, Black ethnicity, increased slightly from 52.29 to 54.90 percent. Meanwhile, the proportion of White individuals decreased by 11.16 percent, going from 39.88 to 35.43 percent. Finally, both Hispanic ethnicity and American Indian and Alaskan Native categories saw increases, rising to 2.21 and 3.82 percent respectively.

	2000	2010	Change
Black	52.29%	54.9%	4.99%
White	39.88%	35.43%	-11.16%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	3.33%	3.82%	14.71%
Two or More Races	2.8%	3.37%	20.36%
Hispanic	1.54%	2.21%	43.51%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.15%	0.28%	86.67%