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

Knox, 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 Knox surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Knox in America

Knox is the 769th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Knox surname appeared 44,742 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 15 people would have the surname Knox.

We can also compare 2010 data for Knox 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 Knox

The surname Knox has its origins in Scotland, with records dating back to the 12th century. The name is derived from the Old English word "cnoc," meaning a small hill or hillock. This suggests that the name may have initially referred to someone who lived near or on a small hill.

One of the earliest documented instances of the name can be found in the Ragman Rolls of 1296, which list landowners who swore allegiance to King Edward I of England. Among them is a Walter de Knocks, whose name is likely an early variant spelling of Knox.

In the 16th century, the Knox surname gained particular prominence with the Scottish Protestant reformer John Knox, who played a significant role in the Reformation in Scotland. Born in 1514, Knox is celebrated as the founder of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland.

Another notable figure bearing the Knox surname is Henry Knox, an American bookseller and military officer who served as the first United States Secretary of War from 1789 to 1794 under President George Washington. He was born in 1750 in Boston, Massachusetts.

In literature, the name Knox appears in the works of Sir Walter Scott, including his novel "The Abbot" published in 1820, where a character named Henry Warden of Wilton is referred to as the "Knight of Ardenvohr and Knockdunder."

The Knox surname has also been associated with place names, such as Knoxville, the third-largest city in Tennessee, which was named after Henry Knox, the Revolutionary War general, in 1791.

Other notable individuals with the Knox surname include Amanda Knox, an American woman who was initially convicted but later acquitted of the murder of her roommate in Italy in 2007, and Philander Chase Knox, an American lawyer and politician who served as the United States Secretary of State from 1909 to 1913.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Knox

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

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

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

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