# Bristol (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/bristol/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname from Old English.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 7,694 |
| US rank (2010) | 4,611 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 40,128 people |
| Change since 2000 | +5.5% (7,296 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈbɹɪstəl/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | Bristole, Brigstow, Bristou, Bristow, Brizzle |

## Etymology

Inherited from Middle English Bristowe, from Old English Bryċġstōw (literally “the place by the bridge”), from bryċġ + -stōw, with additional final /l/ due to hypercorrection from l-vocalizing accents. See bridge and stow for more. The tiddlywinks sense is associated with players from Bristol University.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Bristol in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 73% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 18% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 4.4% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 1.2% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.4% |
| Two or more races | 2.6% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Bristol in the United States.

## People named Bristol

- Johnny Bristol, American musician (1939–2004)
- Kervin Bristol, American basketball player

## Similar surnames

Bright, Bristow, Brister, Brust, Brissette, Barstow, Brost, Brighton, Burston, Brewster, Burkett, Braxton.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.