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

Oaks, 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 Oaks surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Oaks in America

Oaks is the 4903rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Oaks surname appeared 7,182 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Oaks.

We can also compare 2010 data for Oaks 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 Oaks

The surname Oaks originates from England and can be traced back to the 12th century. It is a locational name derived from the Old English word 'ac', meaning oak tree. The name likely referred to someone who lived near a prominent oak tree or a place where oak trees were abundant.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Oaks can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Worcestershire in 1221, where a person named Robert de Okes was mentioned. The 'de' prefix indicates that the name was initially used as a descriptive term for someone's place of residence.

In the 13th century, the name appeared in various forms, such as Oke, Oke, and Okes, in various parts of England, including Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, and Hampshire. This suggests that the name originated independently in different regions, likely due to the widespread presence of oak trees across the country.

The Oaks name is also found in the Hundred Rolls of Bedfordshire from 1273, which recorded landowners and their holdings. This indicates that the Oaks family had established themselves as landowners by that time.

One notable figure with the surname Oaks was Sir Henry Oaks (1585-1645), an English lawyer and politician who served as a Member of Parliament for Taunton in 1626 and 1628. He was also appointed as a judge in the Court of Common Pleas in 1639.

Another prominent individual was John Oaks (1711-1775), an English clockmaker and inventor from Warrington, Lancashire. He is credited with developing the anchor escapement, a significant improvement in the design of pendulum clocks, which enhanced their accuracy and reliability.

In the United States, one of the earliest recorded instances of the Oaks surname is found in the Virginia colonial records from the 17th century. Samuel Oaks (1648-1720) was an English settler who arrived in Virginia in the late 1600s and became a successful planter and landowner.

The Oaks family tree also includes Sir Hildebrand Oakes (1610-1676), an English politician and baronet who served as a Member of Parliament for Bedfordshire in the 1660s. He was also a prominent landowner and held estates in Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire.

Finally, Sir Harry Oakes (1874-1943) was a wealthy American-born gold mine owner and philanthropist who made his fortune in the Klondike Gold Rush. He was knighted by King George VI in 1939 for his contributions to the war effort during World War II.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Oaks

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

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

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

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