2000
#11,500
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,511
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.93
Rare Last name
Cork
An English occupational surname referring to a maker or seller of cork, or a person from Cork, Ireland.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,816 Americans carry the last name Cork. That puts it at #12,111 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.82 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 121,717 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Cork 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 Cork with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
2.8K
1 in 121,717
Census rank
#12,111
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.5K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,456 bearers of the surname Cork in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.82 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 12111th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Cork, the largest self-reported group is White at 69.0%. The next largest groups are Black (23.2%) and Two or More Races (4.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Cork
The surname Cork originates from England, where it first emerged in the 13th century. It likely derives from the Old English word "corc," which means "cork tree" or "cork oak." This suggests that the name may have originally referred to someone who lived near a cork oak tree or a location associated with cork trees.
In medieval times, Cork was a locational surname, indicating that the bearer hailed from a place called Cork. This could refer to various locations in England, such as Cork in Dorset or Cork Street in London. The earliest known record of the surname is found in the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire in 1273, where it appears as "de Cork."
The name Cork is also closely linked to the city of Cork in Ireland. While the city's name is of uncertain origin, it may have been named after the Cork family who held lands in the area during the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland in the 12th century. The earliest recorded instance of the surname in Ireland dates back to 1343, when John de Cork is mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Cloyne.
Historically, the surname Cork has been associated with several notable individuals. One of the earliest was Sir John de Cork, a 14th-century English knight who served as the Sheriff of Somerset and Dorset in 1356. Another notable bearer was Edmund Cork (1542-1609), an English lawyer and Member of Parliament who served as the Recorder of Bristol.
In the 17th century, Sir Richard Cork (1602-1668) was a prominent English merchant and Member of Parliament for Lyme Regis. His grandson, Richard Cork (1672-1723), inherited the family estate and became the first Earl of Cork and Orrery in 1698.
Moving into the 18th century, Nathaniel Cork (1726-1796) was a British Royal Navy officer who served as the Commander-in-Chief of the Leeward Islands Station during the American Revolutionary War.
One of the most famous individuals with the surname Cork was the British artist and art critic Richard Cork (1947-present), known for his contributions to contemporary art criticism and his writings on artists such as Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cork
Among Census respondents with the surname Cork, the largest self-reported group is White at 69.0%. The next largest groups are Black (23.2%) and Two or More Races (4.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Cork 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 Cork surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White69.0% · 1,695
- Black or African American23.2% · 569
- Two or more races4.7% · 115
- Hispanic or Latino2.5% · 61
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 5
Timeline
Historical Census data for Cork
Cork 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
#11,709
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,677
+166 bearers (+6.6%)
Per 100,000 0.91
Rank movement Down 209 places
2020
#12,111
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,456
-221 bearers (-8.3%)
Per 100,000 0.82
Rank movement Down 402 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #11,500 | 2,511 | 0.93 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #11,709 | 2,677 | 0.91 | +166 bearers (+6.6%) | Down 209 places |
| 2020 | #12,111 | 2,456 | 0.82 | -221 bearers (-8.3%) | Down 402 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 Cork 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 | #11,709 | #12,111 | -3.4% |
| Count | 2,677 | 2,456 | -8.3% |
| Per 100K | 0.91 | 0.82 | -9.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Cork bearers went from 2,677 to 2,456 (-8.3% change). The surname moved down 402 positions in the national ranking, going from #11,709 to #12,111.
FAQ
Cork surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Cork?
Name Census estimates that about 2,816 living Americans carry the surname Cork. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 121,717 residents.
How common is Cork?
Cork ranks #12,111 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.82 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 2,456 people with the surname Cork. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,816), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.82 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.82 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 Cork.
Has Cork become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Cork went from 2,677 recorded bearers to 2,456. That is a decrease of 221 (-8.3%). In the national ranking it fell from #11,709 to #12,111.
What does the Census say about the background of Cork?
Among Census respondents with the surname Cork, the largest self-reported group is White at 69.0%. The next largest groups are Black (23.2%) and Two or More Races (4.7%). 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 Cork in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.0% (1,695 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Cork appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (69.0%), Black (23.2%), Two or More Races (4.7%). 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 Cork (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 Cork mean?
An English occupational surname referring to a maker or seller of cork, or a person from Cork, Ireland. 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 Cork (0.82 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 have the last name Cork?
If you just want to know how many people have the last name Cork, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.