2000
#481
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 62,234
First available Census row
Per 100,000 23.07
Uncommon Last name
Sparks
An occupational surname referring to someone who works with metals, often producing sparks from striking metals.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 70,034 Americans carry the last name Sparks. That puts it at #544 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 20.43 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 4,894 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Sparks 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 Sparks with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
70K
1 in 4,894
Census rank
#544
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
20.4
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
61K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 61,073 bearers of the surname Sparks in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 20.43 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 544th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Sparks, the largest self-reported group is White at 80.8%. The next largest groups are Black (10.3%) and Two or More Races (4.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Sparks
The surname Sparks has its origins in England, with records dating back to the late 12th century. It derived from an occupational name for someone who worked as a smith or maker of sparks. The name likely came from the Old English word "spearhawoc," which referred to a sparrowhawk, a small hawk known for its agility and speed in hunting.
The earliest recorded spelling of the name was found in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire in 1199, where one Robert Sparke was mentioned. Another early record was in the Assize Court Rolls of Staffordshire in 1317, which referenced a William Spark.
During the Middle Ages, the Sparks surname was particularly prominent in the counties of Yorkshire, Staffordshire, and Derbyshire. The place name "Sparken" in Derbyshire may have influenced the surname's spelling variations.
Notable historical figures with the surname Sparks include:
1. Jared Sparks (1789-1866), an American historian, educator, and editor who served as the president of Harvard University.
2. Sir Tobie Matthew Sparks (1828-1898), a British diplomat and courtier during the reign of Queen Victoria.
3. John Sparks (1632-1705), an English Puritan minister and author who wrote several religious works.
4. William Sparks (1570-1642), an English theologian and author of the book "A Recovering for the Schisme" published in 1617.
5. Edward Sparks (1685-1756), an English clockmaker who established a successful business in London during the early 18th century.
The surname Sparks can be found in various historical records, including parish registers, court rolls, and tax records from medieval and early modern England. However, it is important to note that the spelling of surnames was not standardized until much later, leading to numerous variations such as Spark, Sparke, and Sparkes.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sparks
Among Census respondents with the surname Sparks, the largest self-reported group is White at 80.8%. The next largest groups are Black (10.3%) and Two or More Races (4.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Sparks 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 Sparks surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White80.8% · 49,354
- Black or African American10.3% · 6,278
- Two or more races4.5% · 2,743
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 1,905
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 452
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 341
Timeline
Historical Census data for Sparks
Sparks 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
#533
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 63,440
+1,206 bearers (+1.9%)
Per 100,000 21.51
Rank movement Down 52 places
2020
#544
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 61,073
-2,367 bearers (-3.7%)
Per 100,000 20.43
Rank movement Down 11 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #481 | 62,234 | 23.07 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #533 | 63,440 | 21.51 | +1,206 bearers (+1.9%) | Down 52 places |
| 2020 | #544 | 61,073 | 20.43 | -2,367 bearers (-3.7%) | Down 11 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 Sparks 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 | #533 | #544 | -2.1% |
| Count | 63,440 | 61,073 | -3.7% |
| Per 100K | 21.51 | 20.43 | -5.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Sparks bearers went from 63,440 to 61,073 (-3.7% change). The surname moved down 11 positions in the national ranking, going from #533 to #544.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Sparks
FAQ
Sparks surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Sparks?
Name Census estimates that about 70,034 living Americans carry the surname Sparks. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 4,894 residents.
How common is Sparks?
Sparks ranks #544 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 20.43 per 100,000 residents, which is about 20 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 61,073 people with the surname Sparks. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (70,034), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 20.43 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 20.43 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 20 of them to have the surname Sparks.
Has Sparks become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Sparks went from 63,440 recorded bearers to 61,073. That is a decrease of 2,367 (-3.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #533 to #544.
What does the Census say about the background of Sparks?
Among Census respondents with the surname Sparks, the largest self-reported group is White at 80.8%. The next largest groups are Black (10.3%) and Two or More Races (4.5%). 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 Sparks in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.8% (49,354 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Sparks appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (80.8%), Black (10.3%), Two or More Races (4.5%). 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 Sparks (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 Sparks mean?
An occupational surname referring to someone who works with metals, often producing sparks from striking metals. 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 Sparks (20.43 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 surname Sparks?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.