2000
#915
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 34,698
First available Census row
Per 100,000 12.86
Uncommon Last name
Dickson
Son of Dick, a diminutive of Richard, meaning "brave power" or "rich in power."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 38,523 Americans carry the last name Dickson. That puts it at #1,022 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 11.24 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 8,897 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Dickson 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 Dickson with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
39K
1 in 8,897
Census rank
#1,022
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
11.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
34K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 33,594 bearers of the surname Dickson in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 11.24 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 1022nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Dickson, the largest self-reported group is White at 73.4%. The next largest groups are Black (16.1%) and Two or More Races (4.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Dickson
The Dickson surname originates from Scotland and is derived from the Old English words "Dic" meaning "a ditch or dike" and "tun" meaning "a town or village". It likely referred to someone who lived by a ditch or near a dyke.
The earliest recorded spelling of the name is thought to be Diccsun in the mid-12th century. It is found in various old Scottish records from the late 12th century onwards, with spellings like Dicson, Dikesone, and Dykson.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name is John Dyksone, who is mentioned in the Register of the Great Seal of Scotland in 1488. Another early bearer was Thomas Dickson, a Scottish merchant who lived in Danzig (modern-day Gdansk, Poland) in the late 16th century.
The surname is also linked to several place names in Scotland, such as Dickson's Inch in Roxburghshire and Dickson's Town in Lanarkshire, which may have been named after early Dickson families who settled in those areas.
Some notable historical figures with the Dickson surname include:
1. Adam Dickson (1554-1639), a Scottish Presbyterian minister and author.
2. James Dickson (1738-1822), a Scottish botanist and co-founder of the Linnean Society of London.
3. Sir Alexander Dickson (1836-1887), a Scottish naval officer and explorer who served in the Royal Navy.
4. Cyril Dickson (1856-1926), a British Anglican bishop who served as the Bishop of Salisbury from 1915 to 1926.
5. Walter Dickson (1874-1957), a Scottish-American jurist who served as a judge on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
While the Dickson surname has its roots in Scotland, it has since spread to many other parts of the world, particularly through Scottish emigration and exploration.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dickson
Among Census respondents with the surname Dickson, the largest self-reported group is White at 73.4%. The next largest groups are Black (16.1%) and Two or More Races (4.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Dickson 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 Dickson surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.4% · 24,656
- Black or African American16.1% · 5,400
- Two or more races4.3% · 1,455
- Hispanic or Latino4.2% · 1,422
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 404
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 257
Timeline
Historical Census data for Dickson
Dickson 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
#986
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 35,312
+614 bearers (+1.8%)
Per 100,000 11.97
Rank movement Down 71 places
2020
#1,022
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 33,594
-1,718 bearers (-4.9%)
Per 100,000 11.24
Rank movement Down 36 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #915 | 34,698 | 12.86 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #986 | 35,312 | 11.97 | +614 bearers (+1.8%) | Down 71 places |
| 2020 | #1,022 | 33,594 | 11.24 | -1,718 bearers (-4.9%) | Down 36 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 Dickson 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 | #986 | #1,022 | -3.7% |
| Count | 35,312 | 33,594 | -4.9% |
| Per 100K | 11.97 | 11.24 | -6.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Dickson bearers went from 35,312 to 33,594 (-4.9% change). The surname moved down 36 positions in the national ranking, going from #986 to #1,022.
FAQ
Dickson surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Dickson?
Name Census estimates that about 38,523 living Americans carry the surname Dickson. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 8,897 residents.
How common is Dickson?
Dickson ranks #1,022 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 11.24 per 100,000 residents, which is about 11 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 33,594 people with the surname Dickson. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (38,523), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 11.24 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 11.24 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 11 of them to have the surname Dickson.
Has Dickson become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Dickson went from 35,312 recorded bearers to 33,594. That is a decrease of 1,718 (-4.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #986 to #1,022.
What does the Census say about the background of Dickson?
Among Census respondents with the surname Dickson, the largest self-reported group is White at 73.4%. The next largest groups are Black (16.1%) and Two or More Races (4.3%). 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 Dickson in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.4% (24,656 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Dickson appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (73.4%), Black (16.1%), Two or More Races (4.3%). 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 Dickson (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 Dickson mean?
Son of Dick, a diminutive of Richard, meaning "brave power" or "rich in power." 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 Dickson (11.24 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 Dickson?
You can see how common the surname Dickson is on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.