2000
#128,797
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 122
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.05
Very Rare Last name
Hoker
An English surname thought to derive from a nickname for someone with a hooked or crooked nose.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 138 Americans carry the last name Hoker. That puts it at #142,049 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,483,727 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Hoker 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.
Bearers in the US
138
1 in 2,483,727
Census rank
#142,049
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
120
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 120 bearers of the surname Hoker in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 142049th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Hoker, the largest self-reported group is White at 86.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.7%) and Black (3.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Hoker
The surname HOKER has its origins in England, dating back to the late 12th century. It is derived from the Old English words "hoc" meaning hook and "ere" meaning a person who works with hooks, suggesting that the name likely referred to a maker or seller of hooks or other related metal goods.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name HOKER can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Lincolnshire from 1195, which mentions a person named Geoffrey Hocere. The name also appears in the Curia Regis Rolls of Hampshire in 1210 as Willelmus Hochere.
During the Middle Ages, the name HOKER was particularly prevalent in the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, where several villages and hamlets had names that incorporated variations of the word, such as Hockering, Hockwold, and Hokeringge. These place names likely influenced the spelling and pronunciation of the surname over time.
One notable historical figure bearing the name HOKER was Sir John Hoker (1545-1616), an English politician and Member of Parliament for Shaftesbury during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Another was William Hoker (c. 1554-1622), an English clergyman and author who wrote a treatise on witchcraft titled "An Admirable Discoverie of the Witchcraftes of Margaret and Philip Flower."
In the 17th century, the HOKER surname appeared in several parish records, including those of St. Mary's Church in Bury St. Edmunds, where the baptism of Thomas Hoker was recorded in 1634. Around the same time, a James Hoker was mentioned in the court records of the Archdeaconry of Sudbury in 1635.
Another notable bearer of the HOKER surname was John Hoker (1756-1826), a British naval officer who served during the American Revolutionary War and the Napoleonic Wars. He achieved the rank of Rear Admiral and was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1815.
One of the earliest instances of the HOKER surname in North America can be found in the records of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, where a Thomas Hoker was listed as a freeman in 1637. This suggests that the name had begun to spread to the New World by the early colonial period.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hoker
Among Census respondents with the surname Hoker, the largest self-reported group is White at 86.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.7%) and Black (3.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Hoker 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 Hoker surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White86.7% · 104
- Hispanic or Latino6.7% · 8
- Black or African American3.3% · 4
- Two or more races2.5% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Hoker
Hoker 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
#138,304
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 121
-1 bearers (-0.8%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 9,507 places
2020
#142,049
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 120
-1 bearers (-0.8%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 3,745 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #128,797 | 122 | 0.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #138,304 | 121 | 0.04 | -1 bearers (-0.8%) | Down 9,507 places |
| 2020 | #142,049 | 120 | 0.04 | -1 bearers (-0.8%) | Down 3,745 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 Hoker 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 | #138,304 | #142,049 | -2.7% |
| Count | 121 | 120 | -0.8% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | 0.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Hoker bearers went from 121 to 120 (-0.8% change). The surname moved down 3,745 positions in the national ranking, going from #138,304 to #142,049.
FAQ
Hoker surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Hoker?
Name Census estimates that about 138 living Americans carry the surname Hoker. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,483,727 residents.
How common is Hoker?
Hoker ranks #142,049 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 120 people with the surname Hoker. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (138), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Hoker.
Has Hoker become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Hoker went from 121 recorded bearers to 120. That is a decrease of 1 (-0.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #138,304 to #142,049.
What does the Census say about the background of Hoker?
Among Census respondents with the surname Hoker, the largest self-reported group is White at 86.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.7%) and Black (3.3%). 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 Hoker in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.7% (104 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Hoker appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (86.7%), Hispanic (6.7%), Black (3.3%). 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 Hoker (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 Hoker mean?
An English surname thought to derive from a nickname for someone with a hooked or crooked nose. 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 Hoker (0.04 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 are called Hoker?
Want to know how many people have the surname Hoker? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.