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

Booker, 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 Booker surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Booker in America

Booker is the 941st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Booker surname appeared 36,840 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 12 people would have the surname Booker.

We can also compare 2010 data for Booker 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 Booker

The surname Booker is of English origin and dates back to the medieval period. It is believed to have derived from the Old English word "boc," meaning "book," and was likely an occupational name given to a scribe, scholar, or someone involved in the production or selling of books.

The name first appeared in historical records in the 13th century, with early examples including Walter le Bokere, mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Worcestershire in 1275, and Robert le Boker, recorded in the Subsidy Rolls of Sussex in 1296.

During the Middle Ages, the surname was often found in various spellings, such as Booker, Boker, Bocker, and Bocker, reflecting the regional dialects and variations in pronunciation.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name is found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where a landowner named Richard le Bookere is listed as holding property in Berkshire.

The surname Booker has also been associated with certain place names, such as Booker in Buckinghamshire and Booker Hill in Norfolk. These places may have influenced the development of the surname or been named after individuals bearing the name.

Notable individuals with the surname Booker throughout history include:

1. John Booker (1601-1667), an English astrologer and scholar who published several works on astrology and astronomical calculations.
2. Richard Booker (c. 1670-1745), an English composer and organist who served as the Master of the Choristers at Westminster Abbey.
3. Calistus Booker (1798-1858), an American Baptist minister and abolitionist who advocated for the education of African Americans and the abolition of slavery.
4. George Booker (1753-1811), an English chess player and writer, considered one of the strongest players of his time and the author of the book "The Celebrated Matches of the Old Suffolk Gambit" (1819).
5. Cory Booker (born 1969), an American politician and the current junior United States Senator from New Jersey, who served as the 36th Mayor of Newark from 2006 to 2013.

While the surname Booker has its roots in England, it has since spread to other parts of the world, including the United States, Canada, and Australia, due to migration and immigration patterns over the centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Booker

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!