2000
#13,469
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,072
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.77
Rare Last name
Adcox
Derived from the Old English personal name "Eadcoc," meaning "wealthy" or "prosperous."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,264 Americans carry the last name Adcox. That puts it at #14,522 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.66 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 151,393 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Adcox surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
2.3K
1 in 151,393
Census rank
#14,522
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.0K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,974 bearers of the surname Adcox in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.66 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 14522nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Adcox, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.5%) and Hispanic (3.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Adcox
The surname ADCOX is of Anglo-Saxon origin, tracing its roots back to the medieval period in England. It is a locational name, derived from a place called Adcocks or Adcox, which was likely a small hamlet or village in the English countryside.
The name is believed to have originated as a descriptive term, possibly denoting a location near a hill or a rise, with the Old English elements "ad" meaning "at" and "cocc" meaning "hill" or "small hill." Variants of the spelling include Adcock, Adcoke, and Adcocks, reflecting the regional dialects and scribal variations common in the era before standardized spelling conventions.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name can be found in the Hundred Rolls of Bedfordshire, a census-like survey conducted in 1273 during the reign of King Edward I. This document lists a certain William Adecok, likely an early bearer of the surname.
In the 14th century, the Poll Tax returns of 1379 for the county of Yorkshire include entries for John Adcok and Alicia Adcok, providing further evidence of the name's existence and use during this period.
Notable bearers of the ADCOX surname throughout history include:
1. William Adcox (c. 1540-1622), an English clergyman and academic who served as the Master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge from 1599 to 1622.
2. Robert Adcox (c. 1590-1668), an English theologian and controversialist known for his writings against the Quakers.
3. John Adcox (1676-1751), a British architect and surveyor who worked on several prominent buildings in London, including the Church of St. Giles-in-the-Fields and the Foundling Hospital.
4. Elizabeth Adcox (1768-1842), an English diarist and writer whose personal journals provide valuable insights into the daily life and social customs of the Georgian era.
5. Thomas Adcox (1807-1891), an English entrepreneur and industrialist who founded the Adcox Ironworks in Birmingham, a successful manufacturing company that produced high-quality iron products.
While the ADCOX surname may have originated from a specific location in England, over time, it has become widely dispersed and can be found in various parts of the English-speaking world, carried by the descendants of early emigrants and settlers.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Adcox
Among Census respondents with the surname Adcox, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.5%) and Hispanic (3.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Adcox bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Adcox surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.0% · 1,737
- Two or more races5.5% · 109
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 74
- Black or African American1.4% · 27
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 18
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 9
Timeline
Historical Census data for Adcox
Adcox appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#14,030
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,147
+75 bearers (+3.6%)
Per 100,000 0.73
Rank movement Down 561 places
2020
#14,522
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,974
-173 bearers (-8.1%)
Per 100,000 0.66
Rank movement Down 492 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #13,469 | 2,072 | 0.77 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #14,030 | 2,147 | 0.73 | +75 bearers (+3.6%) | Down 561 places |
| 2020 | #14,522 | 1,974 | 0.66 | -173 bearers (-8.1%) | Down 492 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Adcox surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #14,030 | #14,522 | -3.5% |
| Count | 2,147 | 1,974 | -8.1% |
| Per 100K | 0.73 | 0.66 | -9.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Adcox bearers went from 2,147 to 1,974 (-8.1% change). The surname moved down 492 positions in the national ranking, going from #14,030 to #14,522.
FAQ
Adcox surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Adcox?
Name Census estimates that about 2,264 living Americans carry the surname Adcox. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 151,393 residents.
How common is Adcox?
Adcox ranks #14,522 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.66 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 1,974 people with the surname Adcox. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,264), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.66 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.66 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Adcox.
Has Adcox become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Adcox went from 2,147 recorded bearers to 1,974. That is a decrease of 173 (-8.1%). In the national ranking it fell from #14,030 to #14,522.
What does the Census say about the background of Adcox?
Among Census respondents with the surname Adcox, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.5%) and Hispanic (3.7%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Adcox in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.0% (1,737 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Adcox appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (88.0%), Two or More Races (5.5%), Hispanic (3.7%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Adcox (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Adcox mean?
Derived from the Old English personal name "Eadcoc," meaning "wealthy" or "prosperous." The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Adcox (0.66 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people are called Adcox?
Want to know how many people have the surname Adcox? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.