2000
#1,856
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 17,797
First available Census row
Per 100,000 6.60
Uncommon Last name
Wilkes
Derived from a place name meaning "wet land" or "moist land" in Old English.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 20,243 Americans carry the last name Wilkes. That puts it at #1,998 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 5.91 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 16,932 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Wilkes 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 Wilkes with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
20K
1 in 16,932
Census rank
#1,998
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
5.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
18K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 17,653 bearers of the surname Wilkes in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 5.91 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 1998th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Wilkes, the largest self-reported group is White at 67.3%. The next largest groups are Black (24.7%) and Two or More Races (4.1%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of 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.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Wilkes
Among Census respondents with the surname Wilkes, the largest self-reported group is White at 67.3%. The next largest groups are Black (24.7%) and Two or More Races (4.1%).
The bar chart below shows how Wilkes 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 Wilkes surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White67.3% · 11,880
- Black or African American24.7% · 4,358
- Two or more races4.1% · 722
- Hispanic or Latino2.8% · 500
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 103
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 90
Timeline
Historical Census data for Wilkes
Wilkes 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
#1,975
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 18,314
+517 bearers (+2.9%)
Per 100,000 6.21
Rank movement Down 119 places
2020
#1,998
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 17,653
-661 bearers (-3.6%)
Per 100,000 5.91
Rank movement Down 23 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #1,856 | 17,797 | 6.60 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #1,975 | 18,314 | 6.21 | +517 bearers (+2.9%) | Down 119 places |
| 2020 | #1,998 | 17,653 | 5.91 | -661 bearers (-3.6%) | Down 23 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 Wilkes 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 | #1,975 | #1,998 | -1.2% |
| Count | 18,314 | 17,653 | -3.6% |
| Per 100K | 6.21 | 5.91 | -4.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Wilkes bearers went from 18,314 to 17,653 (-3.6% change). The surname moved down 23 positions in the national ranking, going from #1,975 to #1,998.
FAQ
Wilkes surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Wilkes?
Name Census estimates that about 20,243 living Americans carry the surname Wilkes. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 16,932 residents.
How common is Wilkes?
Wilkes ranks #1,998 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 5.91 per 100,000 residents, which is about 6 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 17,653 people with the surname Wilkes. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (20,243), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 5.91 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 5.91 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 6 of them to have the surname Wilkes.
Has Wilkes become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Wilkes went from 18,314 recorded bearers to 17,653. That is a decrease of 661 (-3.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #1,975 to #1,998.
What does the Census say about the background of Wilkes?
Among Census respondents with the surname Wilkes, the largest self-reported group is White at 67.3%. The next largest groups are Black (24.7%) and Two or More Races (4.1%). 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 Wilkes in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.3% (11,880 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Wilkes appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (67.3%), Black (24.7%), Two or More Races (4.1%). 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 Wilkes (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 Wilkes mean?
Derived from a place name meaning "wet land" or "moist land" in Old English. 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 Wilkes (5.91 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 have the last name Wilkes?
You can see how common the surname Wilkes is on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.