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

Drinkwater, 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 Drinkwater surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Drinkwater in America

Drinkwater is the 14084th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Drinkwater surname appeared 2,135 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Drinkwater.

We can also compare 2010 data for Drinkwater 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 Drinkwater

The surname Drinkwater is an English locational name that originated in various places across England. It is derived from the Old English words "drinc" meaning "drink" and "wæter" meaning "water", suggesting a dwelling place situated near a source of fresh water, such as a well, stream, or pond. This name likely referred to someone who lived near such a water source.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as "Drinchwatere" in Berkshire and Gloucestershire. The spelling variations in historical records include Drinkwater, Drinkwatere, Drynkwalter, and Drinkewatere.

In the 13th century, the name Drinkwater appeared in several records, including the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire in 1230 and the Feet of Fines for Essex in 1292. During this period, the name was also associated with various locations, such as Drinkwater in Lancashire and Drinkwater Marsh in Cheshire.

Notable individuals who bore the surname Drinkwater throughout history include:

1. John Drinkwater (1470-1537), an English ecclesiastic who served as the Bishop of Salisbury from 1535 until his death.
2. Sir John Drinkwater (1582-1651), an English politician and Member of Parliament for Grantham in the 17th century.
3. John Drinkwater (1762-1844), an English poet and playwright best known for his historical plays about figures like Cromwell and Charles I.
4. John Drinkwater (1882-1937), an English poet and dramatist who won the Hawthornden Prize for his poetry collection "Tides" in 1917.
5. John Elliot Drinkwater Bethune (1801-1851), a British lawyer and author who served as the Attorney General of British Honduras (now Belize) in the mid-19th century.

These historical examples demonstrate the widespread use and distribution of the Drinkwater surname across England and beyond, reflecting its locational origins and associations with various places and noteworthy individuals over the centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Drinkwater

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

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

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

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