How common is the surname Balsam?

651 people in the United States had the surname Balsam in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 474,263 Americans. It ranked 34,707th of 162,253 surnames.

What ethnicity is the surname Balsam?

In the 2010 Census, 98% of people named Balsam identified as white (not Hispanic), and 1.5% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

Who is the most famous person named Balsam?

Martin Balsam, American actor (1919–1996), followed by Talia Balsam.

Where is the surname Balsam most common?

Wikidata records people named Balsam in the United States.

Is the surname Balsam getting more or less common?

More common. 593 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 651 in 2010, up 9.8%.

The surname Balsam

A German occupational surname, carried by 651 people in the United States.

2 syllables Soundex B425

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Balsam is more common than 78.6% of them.

Origin

German origin

Borrowed from German Balsam, an occupational surname for a seller of perfumes. It could also be an English habitational surname, from Balsham, in Cambridgeshire.

Balsam is an occupational surname: named after the work an ancestor did.

One of 1,101 German surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 651 people named Balsam in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 474,263 Americans. That is up 9.8% since 2000, when the Census counted 593.

#34,707

rank among US surnames

651

people in 2010

0.2

per 100,000 Americans

+9.8%

change since 2000 (was #35,797)

Who is named Balsam

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

98% of people named Balsam identified as white (not Hispanic), 1.5% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 98%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 1.5%

The Census suppresses very small shares to protect privacy; Black, Multiracial are not shown.

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Balsams

2 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Martin Balsam
American actor (1919–1996)
Talia Balsam
American TV and film actress, born 1959

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Balsam

Balsam has the Soundex code B425, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code B425.

Other German surnames

All 1,101 German surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Balsam come from?: Borrowed from German Balsam, an occupational surname for a seller of perfumes. It could also be an English habitational surname, from Balsham, in Cambridgeshire.
How common is the surname Balsam?: 651 people in the United States had the surname Balsam in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 474,263 Americans. It ranked 34,707th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Balsam?: In the 2010 Census, 98% of people named Balsam identified as white (not Hispanic), and 1.5% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
Who is the most famous person named Balsam?: Martin Balsam, American actor (1919–1996), followed by Talia Balsam.
Where is the surname Balsam most common?: Wikidata records people named Balsam in the United States.
What type of surname is Balsam?: Balsam is an occupational surname, named after the work an ancestor did.
Is the surname Balsam getting more or less common?: More common. 593 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 651 in 2010, up 9.8%.