2000
#13,372
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,089
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.77
Rare Last name
Drinkwater
An English occupational surname referring to someone who carried or sold water, or lived near a water source.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,384 Americans carry the last name Drinkwater. That puts it at #13,896 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.70 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 143,773 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Drinkwater 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 Drinkwater with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
2.4K
1 in 143,773
Census rank
#13,896
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.1K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,079 bearers of the surname Drinkwater in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.70 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 13896th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Drinkwater, the largest self-reported group is White at 85.5%. The next largest groups are Black (6.4%) and Hispanic (3.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of 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.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Drinkwater
Among Census respondents with the surname Drinkwater, the largest self-reported group is White at 85.5%. The next largest groups are Black (6.4%) and Hispanic (3.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Drinkwater 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 Drinkwater surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.5% · 1,777
- Black or African American6.4% · 133
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 73
- Two or more races3.1% · 65
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 14
Timeline
Historical Census data for Drinkwater
Drinkwater 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
#14,084
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,135
+46 bearers (+2.2%)
Per 100,000 0.72
Rank movement Down 712 places
2020
#13,896
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,079
-56 bearers (-2.6%)
Per 100,000 0.70
Rank movement Up 188 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #13,372 | 2,089 | 0.77 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #14,084 | 2,135 | 0.72 | +46 bearers (+2.2%) | Down 712 places |
| 2020 | #13,896 | 2,079 | 0.70 | -56 bearers (-2.6%) | Up 188 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 Drinkwater 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 | #14,084 | #13,896 | 1.3% |
| Count | 2,135 | 2,079 | -2.6% |
| Per 100K | 0.72 | 0.70 | -3.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Drinkwater bearers went from 2,135 to 2,079 (-2.6% change). The surname moved up 188 positions in the national ranking, going from #14,084 to #13,896.
FAQ
Drinkwater surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Drinkwater?
Name Census estimates that about 2,384 living Americans carry the surname Drinkwater. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 143,773 residents.
How common is Drinkwater?
Drinkwater ranks #13,896 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.70 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 2,079 people with the surname Drinkwater. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,384), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.7 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.70 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 Drinkwater.
Has Drinkwater become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Drinkwater went from 2,135 recorded bearers to 2,079. That is a decrease of 56 (-2.6%). In the national ranking it rose from #14,084 to #13,896.
What does the Census say about the background of Drinkwater?
Among Census respondents with the surname Drinkwater, the largest self-reported group is White at 85.5%. The next largest groups are Black (6.4%) and Hispanic (3.5%). 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 Drinkwater in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.5% (1,777 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Drinkwater appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (85.5%), Black (6.4%), Hispanic (3.5%). 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 Drinkwater (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 Drinkwater mean?
An English occupational surname referring to someone who carried or sold water, or lived near a water source. 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 Drinkwater (0.70 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 are called Drinkwater?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people are called Drinkwater at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.