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

Pinkerton, 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 Pinkerton surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Pinkerton in America

Pinkerton is the 4195th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Pinkerton surname appeared 8,446 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 3 people would have the surname Pinkerton.

We can also compare 2010 data for Pinkerton 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 Pinkerton

The surname Pinkerton originated in Scotland during the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old English words "pinc" and "tun," meaning "enclosure for game or hunting park" and "farm or settlement," respectively. This suggests that the name may have been given to someone who lived near a hunting park or game reserve.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Pinkerton name can be found in the Ragman Rolls of 1296, which documented Scottish landowners swearing fealty to King Edward I of England. The entry "Johanne de Pynkertoun" likely refers to someone from the village of Pinkerton, located near Dunbar in East Lothian, Scotland.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, variations of the name such as Pinkertoun, Pynkerton, and Pynkertone appeared in Scottish records and parish registers. Notable bearers of the name include John Pinkerton (1758-1826), a Scottish antiquarian and author who wrote several works on Scottish history and literature.

In the 19th century, the Pinkerton name gained prominence through Allan Pinkerton (1819-1884), a Scottish-American detective who founded the Pinkerton National Detective Agency in 1850. The agency played a significant role in law enforcement and private security in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Other notable individuals with the Pinkerton surname include Robert Pinkerton (1786-1851), a Scottish-born merchant and politician who served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada, and John Pinkerton (1845-1908), a Scottish-American businessman and philanthropist who co-founded the American Steel and Wire Company.

Robert B. Pinkerton (1892-1967) was a Canadian politician and lawyer who served as a member of the House of Commons of Canada. William Pinkerton (1809-1876), a Scottish-born American detective and deputy sheriff, worked alongside his brother Allan in the Pinkerton National Detective Agency.

While the Pinkerton name has its roots in Scotland, it has since spread across the world, particularly to countries with significant Scottish immigration, such as Canada, the United States, and Australia.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Pinkerton

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

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

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

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