2000
#10,657
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,755
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.02
Rare Last name
Silk
An occupational surname referring to a dealer or manufacturer of silk fabrics.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,220 Americans carry the last name Silk. That puts it at #10,835 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.94 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 106,445 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Silk 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 Silk with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
3.2K
1 in 106,445
Census rank
#10,835
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.8K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,808 bearers of the surname Silk in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.94 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 10835th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Silk, the largest self-reported group is White at 79.2%. The next largest groups are American Indian/Alaska Native (6.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Silk
The surname SILK is of English origin and is believed to have originated in the 13th century. It is an occupational name derived from the Old English word "seolc" or "silk", referring to someone who worked with silk, such as a silk merchant or weaver.
The name is found in various early records, including the Hundred Rolls of Cambridgeshire in 1273, where it is recorded as "le Silke". It also appears in the Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire in 1301 as "le Sylke".
One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname SILK is in the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire in 1327, where a Richard Silk is mentioned. The surname is also found in the Lay Subsidy Rolls of Warwickshire in 1332, with a John Silk listed.
In the 14th century, the name is recorded in various places, such as Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, and Warwickshire, suggesting that it was particularly prevalent in the West Midlands region of England.
The surname SILK is also associated with several place names, such as Silk Willoughby and Silk Woodhouse in Lincolnshire, as well as Silkmore in Staffordshire. These place names likely derived from the surname, indicating that individuals with the name SILK were landowners or had established settlements in these areas.
Notable individuals with the surname SILK include:
1. Thomas Silk (c. 1600 - 1666), an English politician who served as a Member of Parliament for Taunton during the English Civil War.
2. John Silk (1784 - 1867), an English cricketer who played for Hampshire and Surrey in the early 19th century.
3. Sir Thomas Silk (1846 - 1922), a British businessman and politician who served as a Member of Parliament for Stafford from 1900 to 1906.
4. Daniel Silk (1617 - 1707), an English Puritan minister and author who wrote several religious works.
5. William Silk (1786 - 1852), an English inventor and engineer who is credited with developing the first practical silk-spinning machine in the early 19th century.
The surname SILK has been found in various historical records, including parish registers, tax rolls, and legal documents, attesting to its long-standing presence in England and its association with the silk trade and textile industry.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Silk
Among Census respondents with the surname Silk, the largest self-reported group is White at 79.2%. The next largest groups are American Indian/Alaska Native (6.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Silk 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 Silk surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White79.2% · 2,223
- American Indian and Alaska Native6.0% · 168
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.9% · 138
- Two or more races4.8% · 136
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 99
- Black or African American1.6% · 44
Timeline
Historical Census data for Silk
Silk 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
#10,140
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,180
+425 bearers (+15.4%)
Per 100,000 1.08
Rank movement Up 517 places
2020
#10,835
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,808
-372 bearers (-11.7%)
Per 100,000 0.94
Rank movement Down 695 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #10,657 | 2,755 | 1.02 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #10,140 | 3,180 | 1.08 | +425 bearers (+15.4%) | Up 517 places |
| 2020 | #10,835 | 2,808 | 0.94 | -372 bearers (-11.7%) | Down 695 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 Silk 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 | #10,140 | #10,835 | -6.9% |
| Count | 3,180 | 2,808 | -11.7% |
| Per 100K | 1.08 | 0.94 | -13.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Silk bearers went from 3,180 to 2,808 (-11.7% change). The surname moved down 695 positions in the national ranking, going from #10,140 to #10,835.
FAQ
Silk surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Silk?
Name Census estimates that about 3,220 living Americans carry the surname Silk. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 106,445 residents.
How common is Silk?
Silk ranks #10,835 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.94 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,808 people with the surname Silk. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,220), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.94 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.94 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Silk.
Has Silk become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Silk went from 3,180 recorded bearers to 2,808. That is a decrease of 372 (-11.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #10,140 to #10,835.
What does the Census say about the background of Silk?
Among Census respondents with the surname Silk, the largest self-reported group is White at 79.2%. The next largest groups are American Indian/Alaska Native (6.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.9%). 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 Silk in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.2% (2,223 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Silk appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (79.2%), American Indian/Alaska Native (6.0%), Asian/Pacific Islander (4.9%). 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 Silk (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 Silk mean?
An occupational surname referring to a dealer or manufacturer of silk fabrics. 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 Silk (0.94 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 last name Silk?
If you just want to know how many people have the last name Silk, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.