2000
#3,993
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 8,164
First available Census row
Per 100,000 3.03
Rare Last name
Pinkerton
A locational surname referring to someone from a place called Pinkerton, likely meaning "Pynca's farmstead" in Old English.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 9,073 Americans carry the last name Pinkerton. That puts it at #4,339 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.65 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 37,777 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Pinkerton 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 Pinkerton with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
9.1K
1 in 37,777
Census rank
#4,339
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
7.9K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 7,912 bearers of the surname Pinkerton in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.65 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 4339th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Pinkerton, the largest self-reported group is White at 87.8%. The next largest groups are Black (3.6%) and Two or More Races (3.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of 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.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Pinkerton
Among Census respondents with the surname Pinkerton, the largest self-reported group is White at 87.8%. The next largest groups are Black (3.6%) and Two or More Races (3.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Pinkerton 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 Pinkerton surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.8% · 6,949
- Black or African American3.6% · 288
- Two or more races3.6% · 287
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 266
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 69
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 53
Timeline
Historical Census data for Pinkerton
Pinkerton 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
#4,195
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 8,446
+282 bearers (+3.5%)
Per 100,000 2.86
Rank movement Down 202 places
2020
#4,339
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,912
-534 bearers (-6.3%)
Per 100,000 2.65
Rank movement Down 144 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #3,993 | 8,164 | 3.03 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #4,195 | 8,446 | 2.86 | +282 bearers (+3.5%) | Down 202 places |
| 2020 | #4,339 | 7,912 | 2.65 | -534 bearers (-6.3%) | Down 144 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 Pinkerton 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 | #4,195 | #4,339 | -3.4% |
| Count | 8,446 | 7,912 | -6.3% |
| Per 100K | 2.86 | 2.65 | -7.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Pinkerton bearers went from 8,446 to 7,912 (-6.3% change). The surname moved down 144 positions in the national ranking, going from #4,195 to #4,339.
FAQ
Pinkerton surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Pinkerton?
Name Census estimates that about 9,073 living Americans carry the surname Pinkerton. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 37,777 residents.
How common is Pinkerton?
Pinkerton ranks #4,339 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.65 per 100,000 residents, which is about 3 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 7,912 people with the surname Pinkerton. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (9,073), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2.65 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.65 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 3 of them to have the surname Pinkerton.
Has Pinkerton become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Pinkerton went from 8,446 recorded bearers to 7,912. That is a decrease of 534 (-6.3%). In the national ranking it fell from #4,195 to #4,339.
What does the Census say about the background of Pinkerton?
Among Census respondents with the surname Pinkerton, the largest self-reported group is White at 87.8%. The next largest groups are Black (3.6%) and Two or More Races (3.6%). 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 Pinkerton in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.8% (6,949 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Pinkerton appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (87.8%), Black (3.6%), Two or More Races (3.6%). 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 Pinkerton (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 Pinkerton mean?
A locational surname referring to someone from a place called Pinkerton, likely meaning "Pynca's farmstead" in Old English. 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 Pinkerton (2.65 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 Pinkerton?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.