2000
#4,680
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,927
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.57
Rare Last name
Wilkie
Derived from a diminutive of Will, a nickname for William, or from a place name meaning "willow tree."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 7,689 Americans carry the last name Wilkie. That puts it at #5,069 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.24 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 44,577 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Wilkie 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 Wilkie with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
7.7K
1 in 44,577
Census rank
#5,069
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
6.7K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 6,705 bearers of the surname Wilkie in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.24 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 5069th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Wilkie, the largest self-reported group is White at 81.3%. The next largest groups are Black (4.9%) and Two or More Races (4.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Wilkie
The surname WILKIE has its origins in Scotland, where it first emerged in the 12th century. It is derived from the Old English personal name Wilcuma, which means "a desired guest" or "welcome". This name was later Anglicized as Wilkin or Wilkie.
One of the earliest records of the name can be found in the Ragman Rolls of 1296, which documented Scottish landowners who swore fealty to King Edward I of England. The entry "Willelmus Wylci de Botheuill" refers to William Wilkie from Bothwell.
In the 16th century, the WILKIE surname was prevalent in the Scottish Lowlands, particularly in the counties of Lanarkshire and Ayrshire. The town of Wilkieston in West Lothian may have been named after a family of WILKIEs who resided there.
A notable early bearer of the name was Sir John Wilkie (c. 1580-1646), a Scottish landowner and member of the Parliament of Scotland. He is known for his involvement in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.
Another prominent figure was William Wilkie (1721-1772), a Scottish writer and philosopher who authored several works on moral philosophy and natural religion. He was also a professor at the University of St. Andrews.
In the 19th century, David Wilkie (1785-1841) was a renowned Scottish painter known for his vivid and detailed genre scenes depicting everyday life in Scotland. He was elected a member of the Royal Academy in 1811 and was appointed the King's Painter in 1830.
Sir John Wilkie (1835-1916) was a Scottish businessman and shipowner who co-founded the Wilkie & Richmond shipping company. He was knighted in 1897 for his contributions to the shipping industry.
William Wilkie Collins (1824-1889) was an English novelist and playwright, best known for his works "The Woman in White" and "The Moonstone". He was a contemporary of Charles Dickens and is considered a pioneer of the detective fiction genre.
The WILKIE surname has also been found in various spellings throughout history, including Wilky, Wilkey, and Wilkeyn. While the name has Scottish origins, it has since spread to other parts of the world through migration and has been adopted by people of various nationalities.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Wilkie
Among Census respondents with the surname Wilkie, the largest self-reported group is White at 81.3%. The next largest groups are Black (4.9%) and Two or More Races (4.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Wilkie 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 Wilkie surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.3% · 5,454
- Black or African American4.9% · 330
- Two or more races4.9% · 326
- American Indian and Alaska Native4.7% · 316
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 235
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 44
Timeline
Historical Census data for Wilkie
Wilkie 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
#4,947
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,116
+189 bearers (+2.7%)
Per 100,000 2.41
Rank movement Down 267 places
2020
#5,069
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,705
-411 bearers (-5.8%)
Per 100,000 2.24
Rank movement Down 122 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #4,680 | 6,927 | 2.57 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #4,947 | 7,116 | 2.41 | +189 bearers (+2.7%) | Down 267 places |
| 2020 | #5,069 | 6,705 | 2.24 | -411 bearers (-5.8%) | Down 122 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 Wilkie 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 | #4,947 | #5,069 | -2.5% |
| Count | 7,116 | 6,705 | -5.8% |
| Per 100K | 2.41 | 2.24 | -6.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Wilkie bearers went from 7,116 to 6,705 (-5.8% change). The surname moved down 122 positions in the national ranking, going from #4,947 to #5,069.
FAQ
Wilkie surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Wilkie?
Name Census estimates that about 7,689 living Americans carry the surname Wilkie. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 44,577 residents.
How common is Wilkie?
Wilkie ranks #5,069 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.24 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 6,705 people with the surname Wilkie. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (7,689), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2.24 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.24 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 Wilkie.
Has Wilkie become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Wilkie went from 7,116 recorded bearers to 6,705. That is a decrease of 411 (-5.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #4,947 to #5,069.
What does the Census say about the background of Wilkie?
Among Census respondents with the surname Wilkie, the largest self-reported group is White at 81.3%. The next largest groups are Black (4.9%) and Two or More Races (4.9%). 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 Wilkie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.3% (5,454 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Wilkie appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (81.3%), Black (4.9%), Two or More Races (4.9%). 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 Wilkie (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 Wilkie mean?
Derived from a diminutive of Will, a nickname for William, or from a place name meaning "willow tree." 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 Wilkie (2.24 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 Wilkie?
If you just want to know how many people have the surname Wilkie, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.