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

Oakey, 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 Oakey surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Oakey in America

Oakey is the 39555th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Oakey surname appeared 556 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Oakey.

We can also compare 2010 data for Oakey 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 Oakey

The surname Oakey is believed to have originated in England, stemming from a location or residence near an oak tree or oak grove. It is a topographic name, referring to a person who lived near or in an area characterized by oak trees.

The name Oakey is derived from the Old English word "ac," meaning oak, with the suffix "-ey" added to denote a place or location. This naming convention was common in medieval England, where surnames often reflected a person's place of origin or residence.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Oakey surname can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which was a comprehensive survey of landholdings and populations in England commissioned by William the Conqueror. The name appears in various spellings, such as "de Oke" and "Oke."

During the 13th and 14th centuries, the surname Oakey began to appear more frequently in historical records, with variations in spelling like "Okey," "Okye," and "Okie." These variations likely emerged due to regional dialect differences and inconsistent record-keeping practices.

Notable individuals who bore the Oakey surname include:

1. John Oakey (c. 1520 – 1589), an English clergyman and academic who served as the President of Corpus Christi College, Oxford.
2. Thomas Oakey (1608 – 1692), an English clergyman and author known for his work "The English Husbandman" on agriculture and rural life.
3. Robert Oakey (1767 – 1838), a British naval officer who served during the Napoleonic Wars and was awarded the Naval General Service Medal.
4. Lucy Oakey (1823 – 1908), an American educator and feminist who founded the Brooklyn Heights Seminary, one of the first schools in the United States to offer a comprehensive education for women.
5. John Oakey (1829 – 1903), a British entrepreneur and founder of the Oakey company, which produced emery cloth and other abrasive products for industrial use.

As the surname Oakey spread across England and later to other parts of the world through migration, it continued to be associated with locations or areas characterized by oak trees or oak groves, reflecting the name's topographic origins.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Oakey

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

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

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

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