Whitaker
One of Anglo-Saxon origin signifying a maker of white goods.
Name Census estimates that about 784 living Americans carry the first name Whitaker. It is a predominantly male name (98.6% of registrations). The average person named Whitaker today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Whitaker births was 2021 (64 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Whitaker. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
784
~ 1 in 437,187 Americans
Peak year
2021
64 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,253
Tracked since 1949
Gender
Gender distribution for Whitaker
Whitaker leans heavily male at 98.6% of total registrations, but 11 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Whitaker as a male name
- Ranked #2,253 in 2024
- 64 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (64 births)
Whitaker as a female name
- Ranked #15,179 in 2022
- 6 female births in 2022
- Peak: 2022 (6 births)
Popularity
Whitaker: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Whitaker from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 354 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Whitaker remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Whitaker by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Whitaker during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Whitakers live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. North Carolina, Georgia, Texas recorded the most babies named Whitaker, while Washington, Tennessee, South Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 11 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Whitaker
The name Whitaker has its origins in the Old English language and can be traced back to the early Middle Ages. It is derived from the combination of the words "hwit" meaning "white" and "acer" meaning "field" or "cultivated land." This suggests that the name was originally given to someone who lived near or worked on a white field or a field with a lighter soil color.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Whitaker can be found in the Domesday Book, a manuscript commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. It lists several individuals with the name, indicating its use in England during the 11th century. The spelling variations at the time included Whitacre, Whytaker, and Whittaker.
In the 13th century, a notable figure named John Whitaker was recorded as a member of the Parliament of England. He served as a member of the House of Commons, representing Nottinghamshire in the 1290s.
During the Renaissance period, the name gained prominence with the English historian and antiquarian, Reverend Thomas Dunham Whitaker (1759-1821). He is best known for his work "The History and Antiquities of the Deanery of Craven," which documented the history and architecture of the Craven district in Yorkshire.
In the 19th century, Robert Whitaker (1800-1885) became a prominent figure in the field of publishing. He founded the Whitaker's Almanack, an annual publication that provided a comprehensive guide to various aspects of British life, including government, education, and commerce.
Another notable individual with the name Whitaker was Walter Whitaker (1616-1670), an English Puritan minister and theologian. He was known for his work "A Disputation on Holy Scripture," which defended the authority and sufficiency of the Bible against the claims of the Roman Catholic Church.
Over the centuries, the name Whitaker has been associated with various fields, including literature, academia, and politics. Some other significant figures bearing this name include the American novelist and essayist Charles Harris Whitaker (1918-2008), the British mathematician and computer scientist Randell Whitaker (1909-1992), and the American politician and former Governor of Kansas, John Whitaker (1901-1981).
People
Whitaker + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Whitaker as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with W
Other first names starting with W with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Whitaker: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Whitaker?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 784 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Whitaker going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 437,187 US residents.
Is Whitaker a common name?
We classify Whitaker as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 792 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Whitaker most popular?
The single biggest year for Whitaker was 2021, when 64 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Whitaker is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Whitaker a male name?
Yes, 98.6% of people registered as Whitaker in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.