2000
#6,053
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,228
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.94
Rare Last name
Wesson
An English occupational surname referring to a huntsman or keeper of hounds.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 5,754 Americans carry the last name Wesson. That puts it at #6,501 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.68 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 59,568 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Wesson 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 Wesson with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
5.8K
1 in 59,568
Census rank
#6,501
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
5.0K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 5,018 bearers of the surname Wesson in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.68 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 6501st position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Wesson, the largest self-reported group is White at 65.3%. The next largest groups are Black (24.6%) and Two or More Races (4.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Wesson
The surname WESSON originated in England during the Anglo-Saxon period. It is derived from the Old English word 'weg' meaning 'way' or 'road', combined with 'sunu' meaning 'son'. Thus, WESSON likely referred to someone who lived near a particular road or pathway.
WESSON is a locational surname, indicating that the first bearers of this name lived in a place whose name incorporated the word 'weg'. Some early examples include the villages of Weston in Somerset, Weston in Hertfordshire, and Weston in Staffordshire. The name may have been adopted by people migrating from these or similar places.
The WESSON surname can be traced back to the 11th century in the Domesday Book of 1086, which recorded landowners in England after the Norman Conquest. There are several mentions of individuals with names like 'Wiganus' and 'Wigan', which could be early spellings of WESSON.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with this surname was William Wesson, who was born in Northamptonshire, England around 1250. In the 14th century, a John Wesson was listed as a landowner in the village of Weston in Somerset in 1327.
Notable people with the WESSON surname include Walter Wesson (1857-1942), an American firearms manufacturer who co-founded the Smith & Wesson company. Frank Wesson (1883-1962) was an American actor and film director active in the early 20th century.
Other examples are Robert Wesson (1882-1930), an English footballer who played for Newcastle United, and Sir Jonah Wesson (1901-1982), a British politician and Member of Parliament from 1935 to 1970. Emily Wesson (1867-1936) was an American poet and novelist active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Wesson
Among Census respondents with the surname Wesson, the largest self-reported group is White at 65.3%. The next largest groups are Black (24.6%) and Two or More Races (4.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Wesson 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 Wesson surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White65.3% · 3,276
- Black or African American24.6% · 1,236
- Two or more races4.8% · 239
- Hispanic or Latino4.2% · 213
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 36
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 18
Timeline
Historical Census data for Wesson
Wesson 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
#6,505
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,217
-11 bearers (-0.2%)
Per 100,000 1.77
Rank movement Down 452 places
2020
#6,501
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,018
-199 bearers (-3.8%)
Per 100,000 1.68
Rank movement Up 4 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #6,053 | 5,228 | 1.94 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #6,505 | 5,217 | 1.77 | -11 bearers (-0.2%) | Down 452 places |
| 2020 | #6,501 | 5,018 | 1.68 | -199 bearers (-3.8%) | Up 4 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 Wesson 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 | #6,505 | #6,501 | 0.1% |
| Count | 5,217 | 5,018 | -3.8% |
| Per 100K | 1.77 | 1.68 | -5.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Wesson bearers went from 5,217 to 5,018 (-3.8% change). The surname moved up 4 positions in the national ranking, going from #6,505 to #6,501.
FAQ
Wesson surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Wesson?
Name Census estimates that about 5,754 living Americans carry the surname Wesson. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 59,568 residents.
How common is Wesson?
Wesson ranks #6,501 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.68 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 5,018 people with the surname Wesson. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (5,754), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.68 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.68 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Wesson.
Has Wesson become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Wesson went from 5,217 recorded bearers to 5,018. That is a decrease of 199 (-3.8%). In the national ranking it rose from #6,505 to #6,501.
What does the Census say about the background of Wesson?
Among Census respondents with the surname Wesson, the largest self-reported group is White at 65.3%. The next largest groups are Black (24.6%) and Two or More Races (4.8%). 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 Wesson in the 2020 Census, accounting for 65.3% (3,276 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Wesson appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (65.3%), Black (24.6%), Two or More Races (4.8%). 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 Wesson (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 Wesson mean?
An English occupational surname referring to a huntsman or keeper of hounds. 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 Wesson (1.68 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 are called Wesson?
If you just want to know how many people are called Wesson, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.