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

Pickering, 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 Pickering surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Pickering in America

Pickering is the 2653rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Pickering surname appeared 13,582 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 5 people would have the surname Pickering.

We can also compare 2010 data for Pickering 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 Pickering

The surname Pickering is of English origin and dates back to the 12th century. It is a locational name derived from the town of Pickering in North Yorkshire, England. The name is believed to come from the Old English words "pica" meaning a small hill or peak, and "ing" meaning a meadow or enclosure.

In the Domesday Book of 1086, the town of Pickering is recorded as "Pichering". This is one of the earliest documented mentions of the place name and its spelling variation. The name likely evolved from the earlier Old English form "Picering" to its current spelling over the centuries.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Pickering is in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire from 1166, where a Robert de Pykering is mentioned. These rolls were financial records kept by the English Exchequer during the reign of Henry II.

Pickering has also been associated with notable individuals throughout history. One of the earliest was Sir James Pickering (c. 1516-1587), an English soldier and politician who served as Lord Deputy of Ireland from 1568 to 1573.

Another prominent figure was Thomas Pickering (1621-1669), an English politician and judge who served as a member of parliament and as a justice of the Court of King's Bench during the English Civil War and the Commonwealth period.

In the realm of literature, Edward Pickering (1807-1878) was an English writer and poet best known for his work "The Lay of the Last Minstrel" published in 1805.

The name Pickering has also been associated with notable scientists and astronomers. One such individual was Edward Charles Pickering (1846-1919), an American astronomer and physicist who served as the director of the Harvard College Observatory from 1877 to 1919.

Another scientist with the surname was William Henry Pickering (1858-1938), an American astronomer and physicist who discovered the ninth moon of Saturn, known as Phoebe, in 1898.

Throughout its history, the surname Pickering has been found across various regions of England, particularly in Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Northumberland, where it has deep roots and connections to the local geography and place names.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Pickering

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

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

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

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