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

Faulkner, 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 Faulkner surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Faulkner in America

Faulkner is the 952nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Faulkner surname appeared 36,466 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 Faulkner.

We can also compare 2010 data for Faulkner 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 Faulkner

The surname Faulkner is an English occupational name derived from the Middle English word "faukener" or "fawkener," which means "falconer" or someone who hunted with falcons. It originated in the 12th or 13th century when the Norman aristocracy introduced the sport of falconry to England.

The earliest recorded instance of the name can be found in the Hundred Rolls of Cambridgeshire from 1273, where it appears as "Fauconer." The name is also mentioned in the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire in 1327 as "Faukener."

One of the earliest notable individuals with the surname was Sir Thomas Faulkner (c. 1456–1534), a Member of Parliament and landowner from Berkshire, England. Another early Faulkner was William Faulkner (c. 1480–1554), a merchant and alderman from the City of London.

The name is also associated with several places in England, such as Faulkner's Green in Suffolk and Faulkner's Hall in Essex. These place names likely originated from individuals with the surname Faulkner who lived or owned property in those areas.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the surname underwent various spelling variations, including Fawkener, Fawkner, and Falconer. One notable individual from this period was Sir Everard Faulkner (1615–1685), a Member of Parliament and Lord Mayor of London in 1661.

In the 18th century, the most famous bearer of the name was William Faulkner (1701–1768), a renowned English dramatist and poet who wrote plays such as "The Rival Milliners" and "The Beggar's Opera."

The 19th century saw the rise of the American writer William Faulkner (1897–1962), a Nobel Prize laureate widely regarded as one of the most influential authors of the 20th century. His works, including "The Sound and the Fury" and "Absalom, Absalom!," explored the complexities of the American South.

Other notable individuals with the surname Faulkner include Sir Arthur Faulkner (1851–1936), a British colonial administrator and Governor of Newfoundland, and John Alfred Faulkner (1857–1931), an American artist known for his landscape paintings of the American West.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Faulkner

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

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

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

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