2000
#5,902
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,368
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.99
Rare Last name
Loucks
Derived from the Dutch surname Louk, referring to someone from the town of Louk or Luik in Belgium.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 6,033 Americans carry the last name Loucks. That puts it at #6,236 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.76 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 56,813 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Loucks 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
6.0K
1 in 56,813
Census rank
#6,236
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
5.3K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 5,261 bearers of the surname Loucks in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.76 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 6236th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Loucks, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.3%) and Hispanic (2.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Loucks
The surname Loucks has its origins in the Low German language and is derived from the word "lok," which means a lock of hair or a curl. This name likely originated in the regions of northern Germany or the Netherlands during the medieval period.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Bremisches Urkundenbuch, a collection of historical documents from the city of Bremen, Germany, dating back to the 13th century. The name appears as "Locke" and is believed to have been an occupational surname referring to someone who made or sold hair locks or wigs.
As the name spread across Europe, various spellings emerged, such as Locke, Locken, and Loucks. In England, the name Loucks first appeared in the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire in 1273, where it was recorded as "Lok."
Notable individuals with the surname Loucks throughout history include:
1. Peter Loucks (c. 1650-1720), a Dutch settler in New York who was one of the first European landowners in what is now Albany County.
2. John Loucks (1725-1806), a loyalist during the American Revolutionary War who served in the King's Royal Regiment of New York.
3. Sophia Loucks (1786-1864), a Canadian author and educator who published several books on history and geography.
4. Henry Loucks (1820-1893), a Canadian politician who served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1867 to 1875.
5. Gerrit Loucks (1857-1932), a Dutch-American artist known for his landscape paintings and portraits, many of which depicted scenes from the Hudson Valley region.
The surname Loucks has also been associated with various place names, particularly in the Netherlands and Germany, where towns and villages such as Lockstedt, Lockhausen, and Lockweiler bear similar names derived from the same linguistic root.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Loucks
Among Census respondents with the surname Loucks, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.3%) and Hispanic (2.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Loucks 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 Loucks surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.7% · 4,825
- Two or more races3.3% · 173
- Hispanic or Latino2.8% · 146
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 46
- Black or African American0.7% · 38
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 33
Timeline
Historical Census data for Loucks
Loucks 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
#6,318
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,403
+35 bearers (+0.7%)
Per 100,000 1.83
Rank movement Down 416 places
2020
#6,236
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,261
-142 bearers (-2.6%)
Per 100,000 1.76
Rank movement Up 82 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #5,902 | 5,368 | 1.99 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #6,318 | 5,403 | 1.83 | +35 bearers (+0.7%) | Down 416 places |
| 2020 | #6,236 | 5,261 | 1.76 | -142 bearers (-2.6%) | Up 82 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 Loucks 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 | #6,318 | #6,236 | 1.3% |
| Count | 5,403 | 5,261 | -2.6% |
| Per 100K | 1.83 | 1.76 | -3.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Loucks bearers went from 5,403 to 5,261 (-2.6% change). The surname moved up 82 positions in the national ranking, going from #6,318 to #6,236.
FAQ
Loucks surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Loucks?
Name Census estimates that about 6,033 living Americans carry the surname Loucks. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 56,813 residents.
How common is Loucks?
Loucks ranks #6,236 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.76 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 5,261 people with the surname Loucks. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (6,033), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.76 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.76 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Loucks.
Has Loucks become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Loucks went from 5,403 recorded bearers to 5,261. That is a decrease of 142 (-2.6%). In the national ranking it rose from #6,318 to #6,236.
What does the Census say about the background of Loucks?
Among Census respondents with the surname Loucks, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.3%) and Hispanic (2.8%). 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 Loucks in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.7% (4,825 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Loucks appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (91.7%), Two or More Races (3.3%), Hispanic (2.8%). 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 Loucks (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 Loucks mean?
Derived from the Dutch surname Louk, referring to someone from the town of Louk or Luik in Belgium. 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 Loucks (1.76 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 common is the surname Loucks?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how common the surname Loucks is at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.