Explore the Family Name Thorburn

The meaning of Thorburn

English: from a northern Middle English personal name T(h)orbern, T(h)urbern, Old Norse Thórbjörn, composed of the elements Thórr (see Thor) + björn ‘bear, warrior’. Compare Durban. Some characteristic forenames: Scottish Iain.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Thorburn had a slight decrease in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it ranked 25,657 in popularity with a count of approximately 903 individuals carrying this surname, which equated to about 0.33 per 100k people. By 2010, the rank had slipped to 27,002, with a slightly reduced count of 898, translating to a proportion of 0.3 per 100k people. Thus, the change in popularity showed a decrease of 5.24 in ranking and 0.55 in count.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#25,657	#27,002	-5.24%
Count	903	898	-0.55%
Proportion per 100k	0.33	0.3	-9.09%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Thorburn

Focusing on the ethnicity of those carrying the Thorburn surname, the Decennial U.S. Census data reveals that the majority identified as White, with 92.91% in 2000 and 92.76% in 2010. More notably, there was an increase within the Hispanic demographic from 1.99% to 2.90%, marking a 45.73% change. However, the representation of Black individuals amongst the Thorburns decreased from 2.21% to 1.78%. The percentage of those identifying with two or more races also dropped by 39.37%, from 2.21% to 1.34%. There were no recorded Thorburns who identified as Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian and Alaskan Native during these census years.

	2000	2010	Change
White	92.91%	92.76%	-0.16%
Hispanic	1.99%	2.9%	45.73%
Black	2.21%	1.78%	-19.46%
Two or More Races	2.21%	1.34%	-39.37%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%