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

Wilkerson, 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 Wilkerson surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Wilkerson in America

Wilkerson is the 719th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Wilkerson surname appeared 48,444 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 16 people would have the surname Wilkerson.

We can also compare 2010 data for Wilkerson 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 Wilkerson

The surname Wilkerson originated in England, with its earliest roots dating back to the 12th century. It is a patronymic surname, derived from the personal name Wilkin, a diminutive form of William. The suffix "-son" was added to denote "son of Wilkin."

Wilkerson is believed to have emerged from the northern English counties of Lancashire and Yorkshire, where variations like Wilkinson and Wilkynson were also common. It is thought to be an anglicized version of the Old Norse name Vilkinsson, brought to England by Scandinavian settlers during the Viking Age.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name appears in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire from 1166, which mention a Wilkinus de Tockwith. The Hundred Rolls of 1273 also references a Richard Wilkynson in Lincolnshire.

In the 14th century, the name Wilkerson was found in various parts of England, including the village of Wilksley in Cheshire and the town of Wilkesley in Staffordshire. These place names may have influenced the spelling and pronunciation of the surname in those regions.

Notable historical figures bearing the Wilkerson name include Sir Thomas Wilkerson (1564-1628), an English merchant and politician who served as Lord Mayor of London in 1623. Another prominent individual was Reverend William Wilkerson (1677-1744), a Church of England clergyman and author from Oxfordshire.

In the 17th century, Christopher Wilkerson (1621-1670) was a Puritan minister and one of the founders of Salisbury, Massachusetts. A century later, James Wilkerson (1766-1825) was a British naval officer who served in the American Revolutionary War and the Napoleonic Wars.

During the 19th century, Mary Wilkerson (1813-1896) was a pioneering American educator and abolitionist who founded one of the earliest schools for African American children in Connecticut.

The Wilkerson surname has a rich history dating back to medieval England, with roots in both Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse traditions. While its origins can be traced to specific regions, the name has since spread globally, carried by individuals who have made significant contributions in various fields throughout the centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Wilkerson

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!