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

Postoak, 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 Postoak surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Postoak in America

Postoak is the 86645th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Postoak surname appeared 215 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 Postoak.

We can also compare 2010 data for Postoak 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 Postoak

The surname POSTOAK is believed to have originated in England during the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old English words "post" meaning a sturdy wooden post, and "ac" meaning an oak tree. The name was likely given to someone who lived near a notable oak post or boundary marker.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where a landowner named Reginald Postoak is listed as holding estates in Shropshire. This suggests the name was already established in parts of England by the late 11th century.

Throughout the medieval period, the name appeared in various spellings such as Postoake, Postok, and Postoake, reflecting regional dialects and the inconsistencies of early record-keeping. Place names like Postoaks Farm in Somerset and Postoaks Lane in Gloucestershire may have derived from the surname or vice versa.

Notable bearers of the POSTOAK name include Sir William Postoak (c.1420-1492), a knight and landowner in Warwickshire, and John Postoak (1564-1638), a merchant and alderman in the city of Bristol. During the English Civil War, a Captain Thomas Postoak (1612-1679) fought for the Parliamentarian forces.

In the 18th century, Benjamin Postoak (1731-1809) was a prominent banker in London, while his contemporary, the Reverend James Postoak (1745-1821), served as the vicar of St. Mary's Church in Devizes, Wiltshire.

One of the most famous individuals with the POSTOAK surname was the explorer and naturalist, Emily Postoak (1837-1915), who led several expeditions to the Amazon rainforest and was renowned for her detailed journals and drawings of the region's flora and fauna.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Postoak

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!