2000
#16,925
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,551
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.57
Rare Last name
Tarkington
A surname of locational origin, derived from a place name meaning "settlement of the people called Tarkingtons".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 1,640 Americans carry the last name Tarkington. That puts it at #19,013 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.48 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 208,997 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Tarkington 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
1.6K
1 in 208,997
Census rank
#19,013
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.5
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.4K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,430 bearers of the surname Tarkington in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.48 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 19013th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Tarkington, the largest self-reported group is White at 74.9%. The next largest groups are Black (13.8%) and Two or More Races (5.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Tarkington
The surname Tarkington is of English origin, deriving from a place name. It is believed to have originated in the medieval period, possibly as early as the 11th century. The name is thought to come from the Old English words "torr" meaning "rocky hill" or "tor" and "ing" meaning "meadow" or "people of", suggesting it may have referred to people living near a rocky meadow or hill.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as "Torchinton". This entry refers to a location in Gloucestershire, which was likely the original place from which the surname derived. Over time, the spelling evolved to its current form of Tarkington.
In the 13th century, records show a William de Torkington living in Lancashire, indicating the name had spread to other parts of England by that time. Another early bearer of the name was John Tarkington, who was mentioned in the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire in 1327.
One notable figure with this surname was Booton Tarkington (1869-1946), an American novelist and dramatist. He was best known for his novels "The Magnificent Ambersons" and "Alice Adams", for which he won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1919 and 1922, respectively.
Another individual of note was Sir Cedric Tarkington (1892-1953), a British diplomat and politician who served as Ambassador to Turkey from 1939 to 1944 and later as a Member of Parliament.
In the 16th century, the name appeared in the form of Tarkyngton, as seen in records of a John Tarkyngton who lived in Staffordshire in 1524.
The Tarkington family also had a presence in Scotland, with records showing a William Tarkington who was a merchant in Edinburgh in the late 17th century.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name in America was Thomas Tarkington, who was born in England in 1608 and later immigrated to Virginia in the 1630s.
These are just a few examples of the long history and varied backgrounds of individuals bearing the surname Tarkington, which has its roots in the medieval English landscape and has since spread across the English-speaking world.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tarkington
Among Census respondents with the surname Tarkington, the largest self-reported group is White at 74.9%. The next largest groups are Black (13.8%) and Two or More Races (5.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Tarkington 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 Tarkington surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White74.9% · 1,071
- Black or African American13.8% · 198
- Two or more races5.6% · 80
- Hispanic or Latino3.9% · 56
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 18
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 7
Timeline
Historical Census data for Tarkington
Tarkington 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
#16,031
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,809
+258 bearers (+16.6%)
Per 100,000 0.61
Rank movement Up 894 places
2020
#19,013
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,430
-379 bearers (-21.0%)
Per 100,000 0.48
Rank movement Down 2,982 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #16,925 | 1,551 | 0.57 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #16,031 | 1,809 | 0.61 | +258 bearers (+16.6%) | Up 894 places |
| 2020 | #19,013 | 1,430 | 0.48 | -379 bearers (-21.0%) | Down 2,982 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 Tarkington 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 | #16,031 | #19,013 | -18.6% |
| Count | 1,809 | 1,430 | -21.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.61 | 0.48 | -21.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Tarkington bearers went from 1,809 to 1,430 (-21.0% change). The surname moved down 2,982 positions in the national ranking, going from #16,031 to #19,013.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Tarkington
FAQ
Tarkington surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Tarkington?
Name Census estimates that about 1,640 living Americans carry the surname Tarkington. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 208,997 residents.
How common is Tarkington?
Tarkington ranks #19,013 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.48 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 1,430 people with the surname Tarkington. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (1,640), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.48 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.48 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Tarkington.
Has Tarkington become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Tarkington went from 1,809 recorded bearers to 1,430. That is a decrease of 379 (-21.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #16,031 to #19,013.
What does the Census say about the background of Tarkington?
Among Census respondents with the surname Tarkington, the largest self-reported group is White at 74.9%. The next largest groups are Black (13.8%) and Two or More Races (5.6%). 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 Tarkington in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.9% (1,071 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Tarkington appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (74.9%), Black (13.8%), Two or More Races (5.6%). 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 Tarkington (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 Tarkington mean?
A surname of locational origin, derived from a place name meaning "settlement of the people called Tarkingtons". 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 Tarkington (0.48 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 common is the surname Tarkington?
See how common the surname Tarkington is on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.