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

Arkin, 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 Arkin surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Arkin in America

Arkin is the 28215th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Arkin surname appeared 848 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Arkin.

We can also compare 2010 data for Arkin 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 Arkin

The surname Arkin has its origins traced back to the ancient Khazarian empire of the 8th-10th centuries AD, centered in what is now modern-day Ukraine and southern Russia. The name is believed to be derived from the Turkic word "arkan", meaning "rope" or "lasso", suggesting a possible occupation or skill related to the use of ropes or lassos among the early bearers of the name.

One of the earliest documented instances of the name Arkin can be found in the Novgorod Codex, a collection of birch-bark manuscripts from medieval Novgorod, dating back to the 11th century. In these manuscripts, the name appears as "Аркин", which was likely a transliteration from the original Turkic form.

During the 13th century, as the Mongol Empire expanded westward, many Turkic populations, including those bearing the name Arkin, migrated further into Eastern Europe and the Balkans. Records from this period show variations of the name, such as "Arkin" and "Arkyn", appearing in various regions of modern-day Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus.

In the 16th century, a notable figure named Ivan Arkin (c. 1520-1585) was a prominent merchant and landowner in the city of Novgorod. His descendants continued to use the surname, and it became more widely dispersed throughout the Russian Empire.

Another notable bearer of the name was Pyotr Arkin (1788-1865), a Russian military engineer and general who served in the Napoleonic Wars and played a significant role in the defense of St. Petersburg during the Crimean War.

In the late 19th century, a branch of the Arkin family migrated to the United States, where the name was anglicized to its current spelling. One of the earliest recorded Arkins in America was Alexander Arkin (1832-1901), a Russian immigrant who settled in New York City and established a successful import-export business.

Other notable individuals with the surname Arkin throughout history include:

1. Nikolai Arkin (1876-1942), a Russian artist and member of the avant-garde movement.
2. Walter Arkin (1920-2013), an American physicist and pioneer in the field of nuclear weapons effects.
3. Alan Arkin (born 1934), an American actor, director, and screenwriter known for films such as "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter" and "Little Miss Sunshine".
4. Yuri Arkin (born 1945), a Russian chess Grandmaster and author of several chess books.
5. Adam Arkin (born 1956), an American actor and director, best known for his roles in television series like "Chicago Hope" and "8 Simple Rules".

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Arkin

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

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 Arkin 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 Arkin 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 Arkin was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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