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

Hemlock, 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 Hemlock surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Hemlock in America

Hemlock is the 110825th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Hemlock surname appeared 159 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 Hemlock.

We can also compare 2010 data for Hemlock 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 Hemlock

The surname Hemlock is believed to have originated in England during the medieval period. It is thought to have derived from the Old English words "hemel" and "leac," which together mean "stalk leek" or "hollow leek." This likely referred to a hollow or depressed area where the leek plant grew abundantly.

During the Middle Ages, many people adopted surnames based on their occupations, physical characteristics, or the places they lived. Hemlock may have initially been a descriptive name given to someone who lived near a patch of hemlock plants or a location known for these plants.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Hemlock can be found in the Subsidy Rolls of Yorkshire from the 14th century, where a John Hemlok is mentioned. This provides evidence that the surname was in use by that time.

In the 16th century, the Hemlock surname appeared in various parish records across England. For example, a William Hemlock was listed in the Parish Registers of St. Michael's Church in Somerset in 1576.

Variants of the spelling, such as Hemlocke, Hemlok, and Hemlokke, were also recorded in historical documents from this period.

Notable individuals with the surname Hemlock include:

1. John Hemlock (c. 1520-1585), an English landowner and member of Parliament from Hertfordshire.
2. Elizabeth Hemlock (1632-1688), one of the accused during the Salem Witch Trials in Massachusetts.
3. William Hemlock (1749-1821), a British naval officer who served during the American Revolutionary War.
4. Henry Hemlock (1824-1897), an English botanist and author of "The Illustrated Guide to British Flora" in 1865.
5. Margaret Hemlock (1901-1988), an American suffragette and activist for women's rights in the early 20th century.

While the surname Hemlock is not among the most common in the English-speaking world, it has a long history and can be traced back to the medieval period in England, where it likely originated as a descriptive name related to the hemlock plant.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Hemlock

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!