How common is the surname Pearce?

31,060 people in the United States had the surname Pearce in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 9,940 Americans. It ranked 1,129th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Pearce?

Guy Pearce, Australian actor (born 1967), followed by Christie Pearce.

Where is the surname Pearce most common?

Wikidata records people named Pearce in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom.

Is the surname Pearce getting more or less common?

More common. 30,276 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 31,060 in 2010, up 2.6%.

Is Pearce also a first name?

Yes. Pearce is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Pearce

A patronymic surname, carried by 31,060 people in the United States.

1 syllable Soundex P620

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Pearce is more common than 99.3% of them.

Origin

From Piers, the medieval vernacular form of Peter.

Pearce is a patronymic surname: formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 31,060 people named Pearce in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 9,940 Americans. That is up 2.6% since 2000, when the Census counted 30,276.

#1,129

rank among US surnames

31,060

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+2.6%

change since 2000 (was #1,054)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#1,120	Abraham	31,303	9,863
#1,121	Baez	31,298	9,865
#1,122	Rodrigues	31,280	9,870
#1,123	Wooten	31,249	9,880
#1,124	Hartley	31,221	9,889
#1,125	Ng	31,210	9,893
#1,126	Kendall	31,209	9,893

Who is named Pearce

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

89% of people named Pearce identified as white (not Hispanic), 6.2% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.2% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 89%
Black (not Hispanic) 6.2%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.2%
Two or more races 1.7%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.7%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.6%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Pearces

23 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Guy Pearce
Australian actor (born 1967)
Christie Pearce
American soccer player, born 1975
Bobby Pearce
Australian rower (1905-1976)
Steve Pearce
1947- American armed forces veteran and politician
Alice Pearce
American actress (1917–1966)
Adam Pearce
American professional wrestler, born 1978
Heath Pearce
American soccer player, born 1984
Gary Pearce
Australian rower, born 1944
Pevita Pearce
British and Indonesian actress and model (born 1992)
Peggy Pearce
American actress (1894-1975)
Jacqueline Pearce
British actress (1943-2018)
Lindsay Pearce
American actress, born 1991

Notable Pearces come mostly from the United States (16), Australia (5) and the United Kingdom (2).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Pearce

Pearce has the Soundex code P620, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code P620.

Questions

Where does the surname Pearce come from?: From Piers, the medieval vernacular form of Peter.
How common is the surname Pearce?: 31,060 people in the United States had the surname Pearce in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 9,940 Americans. It ranked 1,129th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Pearce?: In the 2010 Census, 89% of people named Pearce identified as white (not Hispanic), and 6.2% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Pearce?: Guy Pearce, Australian actor (born 1967), followed by Christie Pearce.
Where is the surname Pearce most common?: Wikidata records people named Pearce in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom.
What type of surname is Pearce?: Pearce is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
Is the surname Pearce getting more or less common?: More common. 30,276 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 31,060 in 2010, up 2.6%.
Is Pearce also a first name?: Yes. Pearce is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.