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

Orkin, 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 Orkin surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Orkin in America

Orkin is the 56972nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Orkin surname appeared 358 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 Orkin.

We can also compare 2010 data for Orkin 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 Orkin

The surname ORKIN is of Russian origin and dates back to the 18th century. It is believed to have originated from the Russian word "orek," meaning "walnut," and may have been an occupational name for someone who worked with walnuts or lived near walnut trees.

The earliest known record of the ORKIN surname can be found in the Russian census records from the late 18th century, with entries listing individuals bearing this name in various regions of the Russian Empire, including Moscow, St. Petersburg, and the surrounding areas.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the ORKIN surname was in 1792, when a merchant named Ivan Orkin was mentioned in a trade document from the city of Nizhny Novgorod. Another notable example was Fyodor Orkin, a landowner from the Smolensk region, whose name appeared in land registry records from 1815.

During the 19th century, the ORKIN surname began to spread beyond Russia, with some individuals emigrating to other parts of Europe and even to the United States. One notable figure was Mikhail Orkin, a Russian-born artist who lived in Paris from 1875 to 1923 and was known for his impressionistic paintings of French landscapes.

Another prominent individual bearing the ORKIN surname was Alexander Orkin, a Russian revolutionary and Bolshevik who participated in the October Revolution of 1917. He was born in 1880 and played a significant role in the establishment of the Soviet regime before his death in 1938.

In the early 20th century, the ORKIN name also gained recognition in the field of literature. Nikolai Orkin, born in 1892, was a Russian poet and writer whose works explored themes of love, nature, and the human condition. His collection of poems, "Verses of a Wanderer," published in 1920, earned him critical acclaim.

While the ORKIN surname has its roots in Russia, it has since spread to various parts of the world, including Europe, North America, and beyond, with individuals bearing this name making contributions in various fields, from art and literature to politics and business.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Orkin

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

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

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

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