How common is the surname Thurman?

23,950 people in the United States had the surname Thurman in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 12,891 Americans. It ranked 1,492nd of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Thurman?

Uma Thurman, American actress and model (born 1970), followed by Robert Thurman.

Where is the surname Thurman most common?

Wikidata records people named Thurman in the United States.

Is the surname Thurman getting more or less common?

More common. 22,564 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 23,950 in 2010, up 6.1%.

The surname Thurman

A Norse surname, carried by 23,950 people in the United States.

2 syllables Soundex T655

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Thurman is more common than 99.1% of them.

Origin

Norse origin

From an Old Norse personal name, formed by Þórr (“Thor”) + mundr (“protection”).

One of 126 Norse surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 23,950 people named Thurman in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 12,891 Americans. That is up 6.1% since 2000, when the Census counted 22,564.

#1,492

rank among US surnames

23,950

people in 2010

8.1

per 100,000 Americans

+6.1%

change since 2000 (was #1,450)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#1,483	Bloom	24,081	12,821
#1,484	Sun	24,058	12,833
#1,485	Tompkins	24,056	12,834
#1,486	Jung	24,026	12,850
#1,487	Nance	24,018	12,855
#1,488	Anaya	24,017	12,855
#1,489	McKinley	24,000	12,864

Who is named Thurman

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

70% of people named Thurman identified as white (not Hispanic), 24% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.6% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 70%
Black (not Hispanic) 24%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.6%
Two or more races 2.2%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.8%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.4%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Thurmans

7 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Uma Thurman
American actress and model (born 1970)
Robert Thurman
American Buddhist writer and academic (1941–2026)
Allen G. Thurman
American politician and lawyer (1813-1895)
Keith Thurman
American boxer, born 1988
Mary Thurman
American actress (1895–1925)
Wallace Thurman
American novelist active during the Harlem Renaissance (1902–1934)
Annie Thurman
American actress, born 1996

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Thurmon
Thurmond

Surnames that sound like Thurman

Thurman has the Soundex code T655, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code T655.

Other Norse surnames

All 126 Norse surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Thurman come from?: From an Old Norse personal name, formed by Þórr (“Thor”) + mundr (“protection”).
How common is the surname Thurman?: 23,950 people in the United States had the surname Thurman in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 12,891 Americans. It ranked 1,492nd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Thurman?: In the 2010 Census, 70% of people named Thurman identified as white (not Hispanic), and 24% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Thurman?: Uma Thurman, American actress and model (born 1970), followed by Robert Thurman.
Where is the surname Thurman most common?: Wikidata records people named Thurman in the United States.
Is the surname Thurman getting more or less common?: More common. 22,564 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 23,950 in 2010, up 6.1%.
What are other spellings of Thurman?: Thurmon and Thurmond.