2000
#9,749
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,060
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.13
Rare Last name
Hawkinson
Derived from the English place name Hawking, which refers to a settlement associated with hawks or falconry.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,432 Americans carry the last name Hawkinson. That puts it at #10,244 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.00 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 99,870 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Hawkinson 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 Hawkinson with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
3.4K
1 in 99,870
Census rank
#10,244
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
3.0K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,993 bearers of the surname Hawkinson in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.00 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 10244th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Hawkinson, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.9%) and Hispanic (2.1%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Hawkinson
The surname Hawkinson is of English and Scandinavian origin. It is a patronymic surname, meaning it derives from the name of an ancestor. The name originated in the Danelaw region of England, areas colonized by Danish Vikings in the 9th and 10th centuries.
Hawkinson likely emerged as a variant of the more common surname Hawkins, which itself derives from the Old English personal name Hafoc, meaning "hawk." The -son suffix denotes "son of." Thus, Hawkinson would have originally referred to the son of someone named Hafoc or Hawk.
Early recorded instances of the name can be found in medieval English records. A John Haukynesson is listed in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire in 1379. The surname also appears as Haukynsone in the Subsidy Rolls of Lancashire in 1523.
Variant spellings found in historical documents include Haukineson, Haukinsone, and Haukynson. These reflect the name's evolution from Old Norse to Middle English orthography and pronunciation.
Notable individuals bearing the Hawkinson surname include William Hawkinson (1619-1704), an early English settler in Maryland. John Hawkinson (1742-1831) was a prominent landowner and militia captain during the American Revolutionary War.
Elizabeth Hawkinson (1756-1824) was among the first European women to cross the Appalachian Mountains into Kentucky. Andrew Hawkinson (1797-1872) represented Illinois in the US House of Representatives from 1847 to 1849.
In Sweden, Carl Hawkinson (1810-1894) was a noted entomologist who made significant contributions to the study of Scandinavian insect species. His collections are housed at the Swedish Museum of Natural History in Stockholm.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hawkinson
Among Census respondents with the surname Hawkinson, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.9%) and Hispanic (2.1%).
The bar chart below shows how Hawkinson 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 Hawkinson surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.3% · 2,764
- Two or more races3.9% · 116
- Hispanic or Latino2.1% · 64
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 24
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 19
- Black or African American0.2% · 6
Timeline
Historical Census data for Hawkinson
Hawkinson 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
#10,387
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,102
+42 bearers (+1.4%)
Per 100,000 1.05
Rank movement Down 638 places
2020
#10,244
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,993
-109 bearers (-3.5%)
Per 100,000 1.00
Rank movement Up 143 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #9,749 | 3,060 | 1.13 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #10,387 | 3,102 | 1.05 | +42 bearers (+1.4%) | Down 638 places |
| 2020 | #10,244 | 2,993 | 1.00 | -109 bearers (-3.5%) | Up 143 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 Hawkinson 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 | #10,387 | #10,244 | 1.4% |
| Count | 3,102 | 2,993 | -3.5% |
| Per 100K | 1.05 | 1.00 | -4.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Hawkinson bearers went from 3,102 to 2,993 (-3.5% change). The surname moved up 143 positions in the national ranking, going from #10,387 to #10,244.
FAQ
Hawkinson surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Hawkinson?
Name Census estimates that about 3,432 living Americans carry the surname Hawkinson. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 99,870 residents.
How common is Hawkinson?
Hawkinson ranks #10,244 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.00 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 2,993 people with the surname Hawkinson. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,432), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.00 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 Hawkinson.
Has Hawkinson become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Hawkinson went from 3,102 recorded bearers to 2,993. That is a decrease of 109 (-3.5%). In the national ranking it rose from #10,387 to #10,244.
What does the Census say about the background of Hawkinson?
Among Census respondents with the surname Hawkinson, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.9%) and Hispanic (2.1%). 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 Hawkinson in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.3% (2,764 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Hawkinson appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.3%), Two or More Races (3.9%), Hispanic (2.1%). 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 Hawkinson (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 Hawkinson mean?
Derived from the English place name Hawking, which refers to a settlement associated with hawks or falconry. 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 Hawkinson (1.00 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 share the surname Hawkinson?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.