2000
#12,793
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,210
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.82
Rare Last name
Adkinson
Derived from a patronymic form of the given name Adam, meaning "son of Adam."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,496 Americans carry the last name Adkinson. That puts it at #13,379 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.73 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 137,321 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Adkinson 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.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Adkinson with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
2.5K
1 in 137,321
Census rank
#13,379
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.2K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,177 bearers of the surname Adkinson in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.73 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 13379th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Adkinson, the largest self-reported group is White at 73.2%. The next largest groups are Black (17.5%) and Two or More Races (5.1%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Adkinson
The surname Adkinson originated in England, likely in the 13th or 14th century. It is believed to be a patronymic name, derived from the given name "Adkin," which was a diminutive form of the name Adam. The suffix "-son" was commonly added to denote "son of," indicating that the original bearer was the son of someone named Adkin.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Subsidy Rolls of Yorkshire from 1297, where a Richard Adkinson is mentioned. This suggests that the name was already in use by the late 13th century in the Yorkshire region of England.
The name may also have derived from the place name "Adkinston" or "Adkingston," which was a small village located in the county of Northumberland. The village name itself is likely a combination of the personal name "Adkin" and the Old English word "tun," meaning an enclosure or settlement.
In the 16th century, there are records of an Adkinson family residing in the parish of Darrington, near Pontefract in West Yorkshire. This includes a Richard Adkinson, born around 1560, who was a landowner and yeoman farmer in the area.
One notable figure with the Adkinson surname was Robert Adkinson (1639-1703), an English author and clergyman who served as the Rector of Leigh in Lancashire. He published several religious works, including a book titled "The Christian's Spiritual Wealth" in 1691.
Another notable Adkinson was Thomas Adkinson (1683-1760), a wealthy merchant and landowner from Liverpool. He was involved in the slave trade and owned several plantations in the West Indies.
In the 18th century, the Adkinson name can be found in various parts of England, including Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Northumberland, suggesting that the name had spread from its original region.
William Adkinson (1775-1855) was a British naval officer who served during the Napoleonic Wars and participated in several notable battles, including the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.
John Adkinson (1820-1892) was a prominent businessman and industrialist from Manchester, England. He established a successful cotton mill and was involved in the development of the city's textile industry.
While the Adkinson surname originated in England, it has since spread to other parts of the world, including North America and Australia, as a result of migration and settlement patterns over the centuries.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Adkinson
Among Census respondents with the surname Adkinson, the largest self-reported group is White at 73.2%. The next largest groups are Black (17.5%) and Two or More Races (5.1%).
The bar chart below shows how Adkinson 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 Adkinson surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.2% · 1,593
- Black or African American17.5% · 380
- Two or more races5.1% · 111
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 74
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 5
Timeline
Historical Census data for Adkinson
Adkinson 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
#13,418
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,271
+61 bearers (+2.8%)
Per 100,000 0.77
Rank movement Down 625 places
2020
#13,379
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,177
-94 bearers (-4.1%)
Per 100,000 0.73
Rank movement Up 39 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #12,793 | 2,210 | 0.82 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #13,418 | 2,271 | 0.77 | +61 bearers (+2.8%) | Down 625 places |
| 2020 | #13,379 | 2,177 | 0.73 | -94 bearers (-4.1%) | Up 39 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 Adkinson 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 | #13,418 | #13,379 | 0.3% |
| Count | 2,271 | 2,177 | -4.1% |
| Per 100K | 0.77 | 0.73 | -5.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Adkinson bearers went from 2,271 to 2,177 (-4.1% change). The surname moved up 39 positions in the national ranking, going from #13,418 to #13,379.
FAQ
Adkinson surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Adkinson?
Name Census estimates that about 2,496 living Americans carry the surname Adkinson. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 137,321 residents.
How common is Adkinson?
Adkinson ranks #13,379 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.73 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 2,177 people with the surname Adkinson. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,496), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.73 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.73 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 Adkinson.
Has Adkinson become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Adkinson went from 2,271 recorded bearers to 2,177. That is a decrease of 94 (-4.1%). In the national ranking it rose from #13,418 to #13,379.
What does the Census say about the background of Adkinson?
Among Census respondents with the surname Adkinson, the largest self-reported group is White at 73.2%. The next largest groups are Black (17.5%) and Two or More Races (5.1%). 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 Adkinson in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.2% (1,593 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Adkinson appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (73.2%), Black (17.5%), Two or More Races (5.1%). 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 Adkinson (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 Adkinson mean?
Derived from a patronymic form of the given name Adam, meaning "son of Adam." 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 Adkinson (0.73 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 Adkinson?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how common the surname Adkinson is at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.