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

Pinkney, 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 Pinkney surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Pinkney in America

Pinkney is the 5456th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Pinkney surname appeared 6,378 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Pinkney.

We can also compare 2010 data for Pinkney 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 Pinkney

The surname Pinkney is of English origin, derived from an old Anglo-Saxon personal name "Pinca" or "Pinca's ey" meaning "the island of Pinca." This name likely originated in the area of Norfolk, England during the early medieval period.

Records show that the name Pinkney was first documented in the Domesday Book of 1086, which recorded landowners in England following the Norman Conquest. It is believed that the earliest recorded bearer of this name was Radulfus Pinchenei, a Norman landowner holding estates in Norfolk.

During the 13th century, the name appeared in various spellings such as Pynkeneye, Pynkeny, and Pynkeneye. These variations were influenced by local dialects and the scribes who recorded the names at the time.

One notable bearer of the Pinkney name was Henry Pinkney (c. 1391-1453), an English landowner and Member of Parliament for Norfolk in 1429. Another was William Pinkney (1764-1822), an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat who served as the 8th United States Attorney General from 1811 to 1814.

In the 18th century, the Pinkney family established themselves in Maryland, United States. William Pinkney (1764-1822) was born in Annapolis, Maryland, and his son, Edward Coate Pinkney (1802-1828), was a renowned American poet and scholar.

Another notable figure was Thomas Pinkney (1619-1663), an English lawyer and politician who served as Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer from 1660 to 1663.

The Pinkney surname also had connections to various place names in England, such as Pinkney Green in Gloucestershire and Pinkney's Green in Buckinghamshire, further solidifying its English origins.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Pinkney

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

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

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

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