2000
#4,867
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,625
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.46
Rare Last name
Rooks
An English occupational surname referring to someone who lived near or worked in a castle's rookery or chessboard-maker.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 7,697 Americans carry the last name Rooks. That puts it at #5,063 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.25 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 44,531 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Rooks 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 Rooks with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
7.7K
1 in 44,531
Census rank
#5,063
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
6.7K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 6,712 bearers of the surname Rooks in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.25 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 5063rd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Rooks, the largest self-reported group is White at 61.3%. The next largest groups are Black (27.9%) and Two or More Races (5.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Rooks
The surname Rooks is of English origin, derived from the Old English word "hroc" meaning a rook, which is a type of crow. The name likely originated as a descriptive nickname for someone who lived near a rookery or had a particular association with these birds.
The earliest recorded instance of the surname Rooks dates back to the 13th century. The Hundred Rolls of 1273 lists a John le Rok in Oxfordshire, which is an early spelling variation of the name.
In the 14th century, the Rooks surname appears in various historical records, such as the Court Rolls of the Manor of Wakefield in Yorkshire, where a William Rook is mentioned in 1317. The Subsidy Rolls of Sussex from 1327 also include the name Robert Rok.
Some notable individuals bearing the Rooks surname throughout history include:
1. Sir Thomas Rook (c. 1570-1637), an English merchant and politician who served as Lord Mayor of London in 1619.
2. Michael Rook (1672-1718), an English clergyman and academic who served as the Regius Professor of Greek at the University of Cambridge from 1711 until his death.
3. John Rook (1776-1856), a British naval officer who achieved the rank of Admiral and served during the Napoleonic Wars.
4. Clarence Walworth Rook (1862-1937), an American author and journalist known for his works on the history of New York City.
5. Grayson L. Rooks (1902-1985), an American lawyer and jurist who served as a judge on the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee.
The Rooks surname is also associated with various place names in England, such as Rooksbridge in Somerset and Rookery Farm in Buckinghamshire, which likely derived from the presence of rooks or rookeries in those areas.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rooks
Among Census respondents with the surname Rooks, the largest self-reported group is White at 61.3%. The next largest groups are Black (27.9%) and Two or More Races (5.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Rooks 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 Rooks surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White61.3% · 4,115
- Black or African American27.9% · 1,876
- Two or more races5.4% · 362
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 221
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 108
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 30
Timeline
Historical Census data for Rooks
Rooks 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
#5,086
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,883
+258 bearers (+3.9%)
Per 100,000 2.33
Rank movement Down 219 places
2020
#5,063
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,712
-171 bearers (-2.5%)
Per 100,000 2.25
Rank movement Up 23 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #4,867 | 6,625 | 2.46 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #5,086 | 6,883 | 2.33 | +258 bearers (+3.9%) | Down 219 places |
| 2020 | #5,063 | 6,712 | 2.25 | -171 bearers (-2.5%) | Up 23 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 Rooks 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 | #5,086 | #5,063 | 0.5% |
| Count | 6,883 | 6,712 | -2.5% |
| Per 100K | 2.33 | 2.25 | -3.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Rooks bearers went from 6,883 to 6,712 (-2.5% change). The surname moved up 23 positions in the national ranking, going from #5,086 to #5,063.
FAQ
Rooks surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Rooks?
Name Census estimates that about 7,697 living Americans carry the surname Rooks. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 44,531 residents.
How common is Rooks?
Rooks ranks #5,063 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.25 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 6,712 people with the surname Rooks. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (7,697), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2.25 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.25 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Rooks.
Has Rooks become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Rooks went from 6,883 recorded bearers to 6,712. That is a decrease of 171 (-2.5%). In the national ranking it rose from #5,086 to #5,063.
What does the Census say about the background of Rooks?
Among Census respondents with the surname Rooks, the largest self-reported group is White at 61.3%. The next largest groups are Black (27.9%) and Two or More Races (5.4%). 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 Rooks in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.3% (4,115 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Rooks appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (61.3%), Black (27.9%), Two or More Races (5.4%). 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 Rooks (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 Rooks mean?
An English occupational surname referring to someone who lived near or worked in a castle's rookery or chessboard-maker. 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 Rooks (2.25 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 Americans have the surname Rooks?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.