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

Starkweather, 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 Starkweather surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Starkweather in America

Starkweather is the 14920th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Starkweather surname appeared 1,984 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Starkweather.

We can also compare 2010 data for Starkweather 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 Starkweather

The surname Starkweather originated in England during the medieval period. It is a locational name derived from a place name, likely referring to a person who hailed from a particular location. The prefix "stark" is derived from the Old English word "stearc," meaning "stern" or "rigid," while the suffix "weather" is derived from the Old English word "wæðer," meaning "storm" or "wind." Thus, the name Starkweather may have initially referred to someone who lived in a place characterized by harsh or severe weather conditions.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Starkweather appears in the Domesday Book of 1086, a comprehensive survey of landowners and properties across England commissioned by William the Conqueror. This suggests that the name was already established in England by the late 11th century.

Over the centuries, various spellings of the name emerged, such as Starkwedder, Sterkwedder, and Starkwether, reflecting regional variations and the fluidity of spelling conventions during that time period.

Notable individuals with the surname Starkweather include:

1. Sir Robert Starkweather (c. 1335 - 1401), an English knight who served under Edward III during the Hundred Years' War.

2. William Starkweather (1588 - 1659), one of the earliest English settlers in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, arriving in 1630.

3. John Starkweather (1662 - 1738), a colonial military officer and landowner in Connecticut, known for his participation in King Philip's War.

4. David Starkweather (1758 - 1835), an American Revolutionary War soldier and pioneer who settled in New York State after the war.

5. Charles Benjamin Starkweather (1838 - 1917), a Union Army officer during the American Civil War and later a prominent lawyer and politician in Iowa.

Many place names in England and the United States also derive from the Starkweather surname, such as Starkweather Hill in Connecticut and Starkweather Creek in Michigan, reflecting the settlement patterns of those bearing the name over the centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Starkweather

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

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

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

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