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

Hopkins, 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 Hopkins surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Hopkins in America

Hopkins is the 322nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Hopkins surname appeared 96,810 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 33 people would have the surname Hopkins.

We can also compare 2010 data for Hopkins 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 Hopkins

The Hopkins surname is believed to have originated in England, deriving from the Old English word "hop" meaning a small valley or hollow, and "cyn" meaning a family or kin. This suggests the name may have initially referred to someone who lived in a small hollow or valley.

The name first appeared in various early medieval records in different spellings, such as Hopcyn, Hopkyn, and Hopkyn. One of the earliest known references is in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it is recorded as "Hopcyn."

In the 13th century, the name appears in the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire as "Hopkin," referring to a landowner in the area. During this period, many surnames derived from geographical locations or features of the landscape where families lived.

One of the earliest recorded individuals with the Hopkins surname was William Hopkins, a merchant and member of the Guild of Corpus Christi in York, England, who lived in the late 14th century. Another notable early bearer of the name was John Hopkins, a wealthy landowner and benefactor from Coventry, England, who lived from around 1450 to 1516.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Hopkins name became more widespread across England, with records showing families in various counties, including Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, and Somerset. During this time, the surname was also sometimes spelled as "Hopkyns" or "Hopkines."

One of the most famous individuals with the Hopkins surname was Edward Hopkins, born in 1600, who was a successful merchant and later the governor of the Connecticut Colony in America. He played a significant role in the early development of the colony and founded the Hopkins Grammar School in New Haven, Connecticut.

Another notable Hopkins was Matthew Hopkins, known as the "Witch-Finder General," born in 1620 in Suffolk, England. He gained notoriety for his aggressive pursuit and prosecution of alleged witches during the English witch trials in the 1640s.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Hopkins surname continued to be prominent, with individuals such as Samuel Hopkins (1721-1803), a prominent Calvinist minister and theologian in New England, and Gerard Hopkins (1844-1889), a renowned English poet and Jesuit priest.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Hopkins

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

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

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

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