2000
#14,000
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,977
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.73
Rare Last name
Willcox
From the English place name Willcott, derived from "well" and "cottage," or an occupational name for a trap maker.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,332 Americans carry the last name Willcox. That puts it at #14,170 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.68 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 146,979 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Willcox 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 Willcox with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
2.3K
1 in 146,979
Census rank
#14,170
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.0K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,034 bearers of the surname Willcox in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.68 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 14170th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Willcox, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.4%) and Hispanic (3.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Willcox
The surname Willcox is of English origin, deriving from the Old English words "wille" meaning "to wish or desire" and "cocc" referring to a small hill or mound. This suggests that the name originally referred to a person who lived near a desired or sought-after hill or mound.
The earliest recorded instance of the name dates back to the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as "Wilcoc" in the county of Oxfordshire. This suggests that the name was present in England shortly after the Norman Conquest of 1066.
By the 13th century, variations of the name such as "Wilcox" and "Willcox" had emerged, likely due to regional dialects and scribal errors in record-keeping. The name was particularly prominent in the counties of Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, and Somerset.
One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name was Sir John Willcox, a prominent landowner and knight who lived in Gloucestershire in the late 13th century. Another notable figure was Thomas Willcox, a member of the English Parliament who represented the borough of Woodstock, Oxfordshire, in the early 15th century.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the name appeared in various records, including parish registers and tax rolls, often associated with places like Willcox Green in Oxfordshire and Willcox Farm in Somerset.
In the 18th century, a notable bearer of the name was James Willcox (1714-1800), an English architect and surveyor who worked on several notable buildings in London, including the reconstruction of Somerset House.
Another prominent individual was William Willcox (1778-1854), a British naval officer who served in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars and later became a Member of Parliament.
As the British Empire expanded, the name Willcox was carried to various parts of the world, including North America, where it became established in the colonial era. One notable American bearer of the name was Silas Willcox (1752-1832), a soldier who fought in the American Revolutionary War and later served as a judge in New York.
Throughout its history, the surname Willcox has maintained its connection to its English roots, with variations in spelling and pronunciation reflecting the diverse regions and dialects in which it has been carried.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Willcox
Among Census respondents with the surname Willcox, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.4%) and Hispanic (3.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Willcox 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 Willcox surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.5% · 1,821
- Two or more races3.4% · 69
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 65
- Black or African American2.6% · 52
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 20
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 7
Timeline
Historical Census data for Willcox
Willcox 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
#14,238
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,106
+129 bearers (+6.5%)
Per 100,000 0.71
Rank movement Down 238 places
2020
#14,170
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,034
-72 bearers (-3.4%)
Per 100,000 0.68
Rank movement Up 68 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #14,000 | 1,977 | 0.73 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #14,238 | 2,106 | 0.71 | +129 bearers (+6.5%) | Down 238 places |
| 2020 | #14,170 | 2,034 | 0.68 | -72 bearers (-3.4%) | Up 68 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 Willcox 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 | #14,238 | #14,170 | 0.5% |
| Count | 2,106 | 2,034 | -3.4% |
| Per 100K | 0.71 | 0.68 | -4.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Willcox bearers went from 2,106 to 2,034 (-3.4% change). The surname moved up 68 positions in the national ranking, going from #14,238 to #14,170.
FAQ
Willcox surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Willcox?
Name Census estimates that about 2,332 living Americans carry the surname Willcox. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 146,979 residents.
How common is Willcox?
Willcox ranks #14,170 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.68 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,034 people with the surname Willcox. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,332), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.68 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.68 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Willcox.
Has Willcox become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Willcox went from 2,106 recorded bearers to 2,034. That is a decrease of 72 (-3.4%). In the national ranking it rose from #14,238 to #14,170.
What does the Census say about the background of Willcox?
Among Census respondents with the surname Willcox, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.4%) and Hispanic (3.2%). 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 Willcox in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.5% (1,821 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Willcox appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (89.5%), Two or More Races (3.4%), Hispanic (3.2%). 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 Willcox (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 Willcox mean?
From the English place name Willcott, derived from "well" and "cottage," or an occupational name for a trap maker. 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 Willcox (0.68 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 share the surname Willcox?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.