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

Wheelock, 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 Wheelock surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Wheelock in America

Wheelock is the 8602nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Wheelock surname appeared 3,827 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 Wheelock.

We can also compare 2010 data for Wheelock 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 Wheelock

The surname Wheelock is of English origin, deriving from an old place name, and dates back to the medieval period. The name is a compound word, combining the Old English terms "hweol" meaning wheel and "ac" meaning oak tree, indicating an oak tree situated by a wheel or mill-wheel.

Records show that the name was first found in Worcestershire, where the family held estates and lands after the Norman Conquest of 1066. One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name was William de Whelok, who was mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Worcestershire in 1221.

During the Middle Ages, the Wheelock family played a significant role in the region, and their name appeared in various historical documents. In the Domesday Book of 1086, a reference is made to a place called "Wheluche" in Worcestershire, which is believed to be the original location associated with the surname.

In the 14th century, the name Wheelock was also found in Lancashire, where John de Whelok was listed in the Wills at Chester in 1362. This suggests that branches of the family had spread to different parts of England by that time.

One notable bearer of the name was Ralph Wheelock (c. 1600-1683), an English Puritan minister who emigrated to Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1637 and became one of the founders of the town of Medfield.

Another prominent individual was Eleazar Wheelock (1711-1779), a Congregational minister and educator from Connecticut, who founded Dartmouth College in 1769, one of the oldest institutions of higher education in the United States.

In the literary world, John Wheelock (1786-1857), an American publisher and son of Eleazar Wheelock, is known for publishing the works of renowned authors like James Fenimore Cooper and Washington Irving.

Other notable figures with the surname Wheelock include Edward Wheelock (1608-1684), an English clergyman and puritan writer, and Gerry Wheelock (1904-1989), an American baseball player who played for the New York Yankees in the 1920s.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Wheelock

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

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

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

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