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

Wilkes, 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 Wilkes surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Wilkes in America

Wilkes is the 1975th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Wilkes surname appeared 18,314 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 6 people would have the surname Wilkes.

We can also compare 2010 data for Wilkes 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 Wilkes

The surname Wilkes is of English origin, derived from a place name. It can be traced back to the Old English words "willian" meaning "willow" and "hicc" meaning "stream or brook". Thus, the name originally referred to someone who lived near a willow stream or brook.

The name is first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, as "Wilches" and "Wilches". This early record suggests the name was present in England before the Norman Conquest of 1066. Over time, the spelling evolved into the more modern form of Wilkes.

In the 13th century, the name appears as "Wilkes" in the Pipe Rolls of Shropshire, referring to a location in that county. This indicates that the name was associated with a specific place during this period.

One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name was John Wilkes (c. 1325 - 1384), a Member of Parliament for Middlesex in the 14th century. Another notable figure was Sir Thomas Wilkes (c. 1545 - 1598), an English politician and Member of Parliament during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

During the English Civil War in the 17th century, John Wilkes (1610 - 1672) was a prominent Parliamentary commander and a signatory of the death warrant for King Charles I. His grandson, John Wilkes (1727 - 1797), was a famous English radical, journalist, and politician who played a significant role in the Wilkes Riots of 1768.

In the 18th century, Charles Wilkes (1798 - 1877) was an American naval officer and explorer, best known for leading the United States Exploring Expedition from 1838 to 1842, which explored and mapped parts of the Antarctic continent.

The name Wilkes has also been associated with various places, such as Wilkes County in Georgia, USA, named after the British naval officer John Wilkes, and Wilkes Land in Antarctica, named after Charles Wilkes.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Wilkes

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

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

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

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