2000
#11,810
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,429
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.90
Rare Last name
Talkington
Derived from a place name meaning "the town of Talca's people" in Old English.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,460 Americans carry the last name Talkington. That puts it at #13,547 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.72 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 139,331 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Talkington 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.
Bearers in the US
2.5K
1 in 139,331
Census rank
#13,547
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.1K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,145 bearers of the surname Talkington in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.72 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 13547th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Talkington, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.5%) and Hispanic (3.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Talkington
The surname Talkington is of English origin, emerging in the 16th century in the counties of Lancashire and Yorkshire. It is derived from the Old English words "talcan" meaning "to speak" and "tun" meaning "town" or "settlement". This suggests the name originally referred to a person from a town or village where people were known for being talkative or communicative.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name appears in the Lancashire Parish Registers, where a Thomas Talkington was listed in 1592. In Yorkshire, the Talkington surname can be traced back to the village of Tockwith, which was historically spelled as "Talkington" or "Talkinton" in medieval records.
The Talkington name is also found in the Hearth Tax Rolls of 1674, which were tax records for households with hearths or fireplaces. This suggests the name was well-established in various parts of northern England by the late 17th century.
A notable bearer of the Talkington name was Sir John Talkington, a Member of Parliament for Lancashire in the early 17th century (born around 1580, died 1646). He served as a justice of the peace and was involved in local governance during the English Civil War era.
Another prominent individual was Reverend William Talkington (1668-1734), an English clergyman and author from Yorkshire. He wrote several religious works and served as the rector of St. Peter's Church in Burnley.
In the 18th century, the Talkington family had a presence in the village of Whalley, Lancashire, where Samuel Talkington (1720-1788) was a successful merchant and landowner.
Moving into the 19th century, Elizabeth Talkington (1806-1876) gained recognition as a talented poet and author, publishing works such as "The Lily of Talkington Vale" and "Poems by a Village Maid".
Finally, in the early 20th century, Charles Talkington (1892-1968) was a renowned architect from Lancashire, known for designing several notable buildings in the region, including the Talkington Memorial Hall in his hometown.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Talkington
Among Census respondents with the surname Talkington, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.5%) and Hispanic (3.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Talkington 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 Talkington surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.7% · 1,945
- Two or more races3.5% · 75
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 74
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 26
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 21
- Black or African American0.2% · 4
Timeline
Historical Census data for Talkington
Talkington 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
#12,140
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,566
+137 bearers (+5.6%)
Per 100,000 0.87
Rank movement Down 330 places
2020
#13,547
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,145
-421 bearers (-16.4%)
Per 100,000 0.72
Rank movement Down 1,407 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #11,810 | 2,429 | 0.90 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #12,140 | 2,566 | 0.87 | +137 bearers (+5.6%) | Down 330 places |
| 2020 | #13,547 | 2,145 | 0.72 | -421 bearers (-16.4%) | Down 1,407 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 Talkington 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 | #12,140 | #13,547 | -11.6% |
| Count | 2,566 | 2,145 | -16.4% |
| Per 100K | 0.87 | 0.72 | -17.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Talkington bearers went from 2,566 to 2,145 (-16.4% change). The surname moved down 1,407 positions in the national ranking, going from #12,140 to #13,547.
FAQ
Talkington surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Talkington?
Name Census estimates that about 2,460 living Americans carry the surname Talkington. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 139,331 residents.
How common is Talkington?
Talkington ranks #13,547 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.72 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 2,145 people with the surname Talkington. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,460), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.72 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.72 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 Talkington.
Has Talkington become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Talkington went from 2,566 recorded bearers to 2,145. That is a decrease of 421 (-16.4%). In the national ranking it fell from #12,140 to #13,547.
What does the Census say about the background of Talkington?
Among Census respondents with the surname Talkington, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.5%) and Hispanic (3.4%). 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 Talkington in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.7% (1,945 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Talkington appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (90.7%), Two or More Races (3.5%), Hispanic (3.4%). 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 Talkington (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 Talkington mean?
Derived from a place name meaning "the town of Talca's people" in Old English. 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 Talkington (0.72 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 Talkington?
Want to know how common the surname Talkington is? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.