2000
#4,646
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,982
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.59
Rare Last name
Oaks
Derived from a place name or a geographical location featuring oak trees.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 7,920 Americans carry the last name Oaks. That puts it at #4,946 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.31 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 43,277 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Oaks 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 Oaks with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
7.9K
1 in 43,277
Census rank
#4,946
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.3
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
6.9K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 6,907 bearers of the surname Oaks in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.31 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 4946th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Oaks, the largest self-reported group is White at 83.0%. The next largest groups are Black (8.2%) and Two or More Races (4.1%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of 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.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Oaks
Among Census respondents with the surname Oaks, the largest self-reported group is White at 83.0%. The next largest groups are Black (8.2%) and Two or More Races (4.1%).
The bar chart below shows how Oaks 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 Oaks surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.0% · 5,736
- Black or African American8.2% · 568
- Two or more races4.1% · 285
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 235
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 43
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 40
Timeline
Historical Census data for Oaks
Oaks 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
#4,903
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,182
+200 bearers (+2.9%)
Per 100,000 2.43
Rank movement Down 257 places
2020
#4,946
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,907
-275 bearers (-3.8%)
Per 100,000 2.31
Rank movement Down 43 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #4,646 | 6,982 | 2.59 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #4,903 | 7,182 | 2.43 | +200 bearers (+2.9%) | Down 257 places |
| 2020 | #4,946 | 6,907 | 2.31 | -275 bearers (-3.8%) | Down 43 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 Oaks 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 | #4,903 | #4,946 | -0.9% |
| Count | 7,182 | 6,907 | -3.8% |
| Per 100K | 2.43 | 2.31 | -4.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Oaks bearers went from 7,182 to 6,907 (-3.8% change). The surname moved down 43 positions in the national ranking, going from #4,903 to #4,946.
FAQ
Oaks surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Oaks?
Name Census estimates that about 7,920 living Americans carry the surname Oaks. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 43,277 residents.
How common is Oaks?
Oaks ranks #4,946 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.31 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 6,907 people with the surname Oaks. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (7,920), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2.31 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.31 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 Oaks.
Has Oaks become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Oaks went from 7,182 recorded bearers to 6,907. That is a decrease of 275 (-3.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #4,903 to #4,946.
What does the Census say about the background of Oaks?
Among Census respondents with the surname Oaks, the largest self-reported group is White at 83.0%. The next largest groups are Black (8.2%) and Two or More Races (4.1%). 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 Oaks in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.0% (5,736 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Oaks appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (83.0%), Black (8.2%), Two or More Races (4.1%). 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 Oaks (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 Oaks mean?
Derived from a place name or a geographical location featuring oak trees. 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 Oaks (2.31 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 have the surname Oaks?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.