Find out how popular the last name Aiken is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Aiken.

Aiken, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Aiken surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Aiken in America

Aiken is the 2816th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Aiken surname appeared 12,812 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 4 people would have the surname Aiken.

We can also compare 2010 data for Aiken to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Aiken

The surname Aiken originated in Scotland and is derived from the Gaelic words 'ac' meaning 'oak' and 'innis' meaning 'island' or 'meadow'. The name initially referred to a person who lived near an oak tree or in a meadow surrounded by oak trees.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Aiken can be found in the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, which date back to the 13th century. These rolls mention a person named John Aykin, who was a resident of the village of Aiken in Dumfriesshire, Scotland.

Another early reference to the name Aiken comes from the Ragman Rolls of 1296, which were a series of documents recording the names of Scottish nobles and landowners who swore allegiance to King Edward I of England. The Ragman Rolls include the name of a person named William Ayken.

In the 16th century, the name Aiken was also found in various Scottish records, such as the Register of the Privy Seal of Scotland, which mentions a person named Andrew Aiken in 1545.

One of the earliest notable individuals with the surname Aiken was John Aiken (1652-1722), a Scottish philosopher and theologian who was a professor at the University of St. Andrews.

Another prominent figure with the name Aiken was William Aiken (1779-1831), an American politician and businessman who served as the 61st Governor of South Carolina from 1844 to 1846.

William Aiken's son, also named William Aiken (1806-1887), was a prominent Confederate politician and diplomat during the American Civil War.

In the field of literature, the name Aiken is associated with Conrad Aiken (1889-1973), an American novelist and poet who was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1930 for his work "Selected Poems".

Another notable individual with the surname Aiken was Joan Aiken (1924-2004), an English writer best known for her children's books, including the "Wolves of Willoughby Chase" series.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Aiken

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Aiken.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Aiken was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Aiken has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Aiken was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Aiken, please contact us.

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