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

Hawking, 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 Hawking surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Hawking in America

Hawking is the 108199th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Hawking surname appeared 164 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Hawking.

We can also compare 2010 data for Hawking 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 Hawking

The surname Hawking is of English origin, derived from the occupation of hawking or falconry. It first emerged during the 11th century, around the time of the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. The earliest known spelling of the name was "Hauekere," found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which was a survey of landholdings in England commissioned by William the Conqueror.

The name is believed to have originated in the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, where falconry was a popular sport among the nobility. Some of the earliest recorded bearers of the name include Robert le Hauekere, who lived in Norfolk in the 12th century, and William le Hauekere, mentioned in the Curia Regis Rolls of Wiltshire in 1205.

One of the earliest notable figures with the surname was Sir John Hawking, born around 1300, who served as a Member of Parliament for Wiltshire in 1328 and 1332. Another prominent bearer of the name was Sir Edward Hawking, a 15th-century landowner and military commander who fought in the Wars of the Roses.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the surname began to appear in various spellings, such as Hauking, Haukyng, and Hawkyng, reflecting the changing spelling conventions of the time. One notable individual from this period was Robert Hawking, a Puritan minister who emigrated to New England in the 1630s and became one of the founders of the town of Roxbury, Massachusetts.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, several notable figures with the Hawking surname emerged, including John Hawking (1717-1789), an English mathematician and astronomer, and Thomas Hawking (1788-1867), a British naval officer who participated in the Napoleonic Wars.

One of the most famous bearers of the Hawking surname in modern times is the renowned theoretical physicist and cosmologist, Stephen Hawking (1942-2018), known for his groundbreaking work on black holes and the origins of the universe.

While the name Hawking may have evolved over the centuries, its roots can be traced back to the ancient sport of falconry, which was once a prestigious pursuit among the English nobility. Today, the surname continues to be borne by individuals around the world, carrying on the legacy of its rich history and diverse bearers.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Hawking

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

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

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

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