2000
#724
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 42,937
First available Census row
Per 100,000 15.92
Uncommon Last name
Knox
A Scottish surname derived from a place name meaning "round hill" in Old English.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 49,339 Americans carry the last name Knox. That puts it at #782 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 14.39 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 6,947 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Knox 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 Knox with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
49K
1 in 6,947
Census rank
#782
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
14.4
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
43K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 43,026 bearers of the surname Knox in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 14.39 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 782nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Knox, the largest self-reported group is White at 61.3%. The next largest groups are Black (29.9%) and Two or More Races (4.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of 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.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Knox
Among Census respondents with the surname Knox, the largest self-reported group is White at 61.3%. The next largest groups are Black (29.9%) and Two or More Races (4.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Knox 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 Knox surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White61.3% · 26,361
- Black or African American29.9% · 12,861
- Two or more races4.3% · 1,839
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 1,418
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 283
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 264
Timeline
Historical Census data for Knox
Knox 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
#769
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 44,742
+1,805 bearers (+4.2%)
Per 100,000 15.17
Rank movement Down 45 places
2020
#782
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 43,026
-1,716 bearers (-3.8%)
Per 100,000 14.39
Rank movement Down 13 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #724 | 42,937 | 15.92 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #769 | 44,742 | 15.17 | +1,805 bearers (+4.2%) | Down 45 places |
| 2020 | #782 | 43,026 | 14.39 | -1,716 bearers (-3.8%) | Down 13 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 Knox 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 | #769 | #782 | -1.7% |
| Count | 44,742 | 43,026 | -3.8% |
| Per 100K | 15.17 | 14.39 | -5.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Knox bearers went from 44,742 to 43,026 (-3.8% change). The surname moved down 13 positions in the national ranking, going from #769 to #782.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Knox
FAQ
Knox surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Knox?
Name Census estimates that about 49,339 living Americans carry the surname Knox. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 6,947 residents.
How common is Knox?
Knox ranks #782 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 14.39 per 100,000 residents, which is about 14 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 43,026 people with the surname Knox. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (49,339), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 14.39 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 14.39 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 14 of them to have the surname Knox.
Has Knox become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Knox went from 44,742 recorded bearers to 43,026. That is a decrease of 1,716 (-3.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #769 to #782.
What does the Census say about the background of Knox?
Among Census respondents with the surname Knox, the largest self-reported group is White at 61.3%. The next largest groups are Black (29.9%) and Two or More Races (4.3%). 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 Knox in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.3% (26,361 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Knox appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (61.3%), Black (29.9%), Two or More Races (4.3%). 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 Knox (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 Knox mean?
A Scottish surname derived from a place name meaning "round hill" in Old English. 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 Knox (14.39 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 Knox?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.