Smoke last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Smoke

An occupational surname referring to someone who worked with smoke or fire.

Smoke, 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 Smoke surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Smoke in America

Smoke is the 21260th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Smoke surname appeared 1,233 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 Smoke.

We can also compare 2010 data for Smoke 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 21260 19672 7.76%
Count 1,233 1,268 -2.80%
Proportion per 100k 0.42 0.47 -11.24%

The history of the last name Smoke

The surname SMOKE is of English origin, emerging in the late 16th century. It is derived from the Old English word "smoc," which means "smoke" or "vapor." The name was likely given as a descriptive nickname or occupational name to someone who worked with smoke, such as a blacksmith or chimney sweep.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name SMOKE can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Warwickshire in 1597, where a John Smoke is mentioned. In the 1600s, several individuals with the surname SMOKE are documented in parish records from various parts of England, including Gloucestershire, Somerset, and Wiltshire.

The SMOKE name appears in the Subsidy Rolls of Suffolk in 1628, with a Thomas Smoke listed as a resident of Lowestoft. Additionally, a William Smoke is recorded in the Protestation Returns of 1641-1642 for the county of Wiltshire.

A notable early bearer of the SMOKE surname was John Smoke (born c. 1615), a Puritan minister who emigrated from England to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the late 1630s. He served as the minister of the First Church of Boston from 1665 to 1675.

Another individual of historical significance was Edward Smoke (1755-1837), a British naval officer who served during the Napoleonic Wars. He was involved in several notable battles, including the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.

In the 18th century, the SMOKE surname was found in various locations across England, including Gloucestershire, where a John Smoke was born in 1704 in the village of Bisley. The name was also present in the Midlands region, with a William Smoke recorded in the parish records of Leicestershire in 1725.

The SMOKE surname has been associated with several place names in England, such as Smoke Farm in Oxfordshire and Smoke Hill in Wiltshire. These places may have influenced the development or adoption of the surname in certain areas.

Other notable individuals with the SMOKE surname include John Smoke (1817-1892), an American businessman and politician who served as the Mayor of Camden, New Jersey, and Edward Smoke (1891-1966), a British journalist and author who wrote extensively about the British Empire and colonial affairs.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Smoke

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

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 Smoke was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 56.69% 699
Non-Hispanic Black Only 20.84% 257
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 1.14% 14
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 16.46% 203
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 2.92% 36
Hispanic Origin 1.95% 24

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 Smoke has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 56.69% 58.52% -3.18%
Black 20.84% 20.98% -0.67%
Asian and Pacific Islander 1.14% 0.95% 18.18%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 16.46% 16.32% 0.85%
Two or More Races 2.92% 2.05% 35.01%
Hispanic 1.95% 1.18% 49.20%

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

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

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"Smoke last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on December 4, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/smoke-surname-popularity/.

"Smoke last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/smoke-surname-popularity/. Accessed 4 December, 2024

Smoke last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/smoke-surname-popularity/.

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