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

Locklear, 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 Locklear surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Locklear in America

Locklear is the 1819th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Locklear surname appeared 19,716 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 7 people would have the surname Locklear.

We can also compare 2010 data for Locklear 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 Locklear

The surname Locklear has its roots in Scotland, where it emerged in the 12th century as a variation of the Gaelic name Lochluibhear, which means "a person from the lake district." The name is derived from the Gaelic words "loch," meaning lake, and "luibhear," meaning steward or keeper.

The earliest recorded instances of the name can be traced back to the Scottish Highlands, where it was commonly found in areas such as Argyll and the Western Isles. In historical records, the name appeared in various spellings, including Lockluber, Lochlubhair, and Lochluibhear.

One of the earliest known references to the name Locklear can be found in the Ragman Rolls of 1296, a collection of Scottish nobles' sworn allegiances to King Edward I of England. In this document, the name is recorded as "Lochluibhear."

Throughout the centuries, the Locklear surname has been associated with several notable individuals. One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name was Iain Lochluibhear, a Scottish warrior who fought alongside Robert the Bruce during the Wars of Scottish Independence in the early 14th century.

In the 16th century, a branch of the Locklear family settled in the Scottish Lowlands, where the name evolved into its modern spelling. One prominent figure from this era was William Locklear, a landowner and merchant who lived in Ayrshire in the late 1500s.

During the Scottish Diaspora of the 17th and 18th centuries, many Locklears migrated to other parts of the British Isles and abroad, including North America. One notable example is John Locklear, a Scottish immigrant who settled in Virginia in the late 1600s and became a prosperous farmer and landowner.

In more recent times, the Locklear surname has been carried by several notable individuals, including the American actress and model Heather Locklear, born in 1961, and the professional wrestler and actor Andrew Locklear, known as "The Mastodon," born in 1981.

Overall, the surname Locklear has a long and rich history that can be traced back to the Scottish Highlands, where it originated as a Gaelic name associated with the stewardship of lakes and waterways.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Locklear

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

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

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

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