2000
#8,017
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,816
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.41
Rare Last name
Hake
An English occupational surname referring to a person who caught or sold a type of fish called hake.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 4,043 Americans carry the last name Hake. That puts it at #8,909 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.18 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 84,777 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Hake 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 Hake with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
4.0K
1 in 84,777
Census rank
#8,909
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
3.5K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 3,526 bearers of the surname Hake in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.18 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 8909th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Hake, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.8%) and Hispanic (2.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Hake
The surname Hake has its origins in England, dating back to the 13th century. It is derived from the Old English word "haca," which means "hook." This could refer to someone who lived near a hooked-shaped bend in a river or road, or someone who worked with hooks or fishing equipment.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Hake appears in the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire in 1273, where a person named John Hake is mentioned. The Hundred Rolls were administrative records kept by the English government during the reign of King Edward I.
In the 14th century, the surname Hake is found in the Poll Tax Returns of Yorkshire in 1379, indicating the presence of the name in northern England during that period. The Poll Tax Returns were records of taxation collected from individuals over the age of 14.
The Hake surname can also be traced to the village of Hake in Somerset, England. This place name, recorded as "Haca" in the Domesday Book of 1086, likely influenced the development of the surname in that region.
Prominent individuals with the Hake surname include John Hake (1617-1624), an English clergyman and author of several religious works. Another notable figure was Thomas Hake (1785-1859), a British naval officer who served during the Napoleonic Wars and later became a Vice-Admiral in the Royal Navy.
In the United States, one of the earliest recorded Hakes was William Hake, who arrived in Virginia in 1623. Henry Hake (1767-1843) was an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative from Virginia in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Other notable individuals bearing the Hake surname include Alfred Egmont Hake (1858-1916), a British novelist and playwright, and Thomas Gordon Hake (1809-1895), an English writer and artist who illustrated works by Charles Dickens.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hake
Among Census respondents with the surname Hake, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.8%) and Hispanic (2.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Hake 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 Hake surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.3% · 3,291
- Two or more races2.8% · 99
- Hispanic or Latino2.3% · 82
- Black or African American0.8% · 27
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 22
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 5
Timeline
Historical Census data for Hake
Hake 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
#8,432
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,918
+102 bearers (+2.7%)
Per 100,000 1.33
Rank movement Down 415 places
2020
#8,909
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,526
-392 bearers (-10.0%)
Per 100,000 1.18
Rank movement Down 477 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #8,017 | 3,816 | 1.41 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #8,432 | 3,918 | 1.33 | +102 bearers (+2.7%) | Down 415 places |
| 2020 | #8,909 | 3,526 | 1.18 | -392 bearers (-10.0%) | Down 477 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 Hake 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 | #8,432 | #8,909 | -5.7% |
| Count | 3,918 | 3,526 | -10.0% |
| Per 100K | 1.33 | 1.18 | -11.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Hake bearers went from 3,918 to 3,526 (-10.0% change). The surname moved down 477 positions in the national ranking, going from #8,432 to #8,909.
FAQ
Hake surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Hake?
Name Census estimates that about 4,043 living Americans carry the surname Hake. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 84,777 residents.
How common is Hake?
Hake ranks #8,909 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.18 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 3,526 people with the surname Hake. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (4,043), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.18 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.18 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 Hake.
Has Hake become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Hake went from 3,918 recorded bearers to 3,526. That is a decrease of 392 (-10.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #8,432 to #8,909.
What does the Census say about the background of Hake?
Among Census respondents with the surname Hake, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.8%) and Hispanic (2.3%). 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 Hake in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.3% (3,291 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Hake appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.3%), Two or More Races (2.8%), Hispanic (2.3%). 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 Hake (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 Hake mean?
An English occupational surname referring to a person who caught or sold a type of fish called hake. 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 Hake (1.18 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 Hake?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans have the surname Hake at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.