2000
#5,880
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,389
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.00
Rare Last name
Wyckoff
From a Dutch place name meaning "parish court," likely referring to a family who lived near such a place.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 5,796 Americans carry the last name Wyckoff. That puts it at #6,464 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.69 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 59,136 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Wyckoff 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.
Bearers in the US
5.8K
1 in 59,136
Census rank
#6,464
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
5.1K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 5,054 bearers of the surname Wyckoff in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.69 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 6464th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Wyckoff, the largest self-reported group is White at 83.8%. The next largest groups are Black (8.2%) and Two or More Races (3.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Wyckoff
The surname Wyckoff traces its origins to the Netherlands, specifically the region of Friesland. It is believed to have emerged in the late medieval period, around the 14th or 15th century. The name is derived from the Dutch words "wijk" and "hof," which together mean "outlying farm" or "outlying estate."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Wyckoff can be found in the 1384 census records of the city of Leeuwarden, where a person named Sybren Wyckoff is listed. This suggests that the name was already in use by the late 14th century in the Friesland region.
Variations of the spelling, such as Wijckhoff, Wyckhoff, and Wijkhoff, appear in various historical records from the Netherlands in the subsequent centuries. These variations likely arose due to regional dialects and variations in pronunciation.
In the 17th century, during the period of Dutch colonization in North America, several individuals with the surname Wyckoff immigrated to what is now New York. One of the earliest records is of Pieter Claesen Wyckoff, who arrived in 1637 and settled in the area that is now Brooklyn.
Other notable individuals with the surname Wyckoff include:
1. Cornelius C. Wyckoff (1799-1876), a prominent businessman and politician from New York.
2. Walter A. Wyckoff (1865-1936), an American educator and philosopher known for his work in experimental psychology.
3. Martin A. Wyckoff (1850-1898), a prominent American financier and stockbroker who developed the Wyckoff Method of technical analysis for stock trading.
4. Susan Cooley Wyckoff (1836-1924), an American educator and suffragist who advocated for women's rights and education reform.
5. John H. Wyckoff (1848-1935), a Civil War veteran and businessman who served as the mayor of Ithaca, New York, in the late 19th century.
The surname Wyckoff has also been associated with various place names in the United States, particularly in New York and New Jersey, reflecting the early Dutch settlements in those areas. Examples include Wyckoff, New Jersey, and Wyckoff Heights in Brooklyn, New York.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Wyckoff
Among Census respondents with the surname Wyckoff, the largest self-reported group is White at 83.8%. The next largest groups are Black (8.2%) and Two or More Races (3.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Wyckoff 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 Wyckoff surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.8% · 4,233
- Black or African American8.2% · 412
- Two or more races3.7% · 187
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 172
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 34
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 16
Timeline
Historical Census data for Wyckoff
Wyckoff 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
#6,451
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,262
-127 bearers (-2.4%)
Per 100,000 1.78
Rank movement Down 571 places
2020
#6,464
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,054
-208 bearers (-4.0%)
Per 100,000 1.69
Rank movement Down 13 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #5,880 | 5,389 | 2.00 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #6,451 | 5,262 | 1.78 | -127 bearers (-2.4%) | Down 571 places |
| 2020 | #6,464 | 5,054 | 1.69 | -208 bearers (-4.0%) | Down 13 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 Wyckoff 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 | #6,451 | #6,464 | -0.2% |
| Count | 5,262 | 5,054 | -4.0% |
| Per 100K | 1.78 | 1.69 | -5.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Wyckoff bearers went from 5,262 to 5,054 (-4.0% change). The surname moved down 13 positions in the national ranking, going from #6,451 to #6,464.
FAQ
Wyckoff surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Wyckoff?
Name Census estimates that about 5,796 living Americans carry the surname Wyckoff. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 59,136 residents.
How common is Wyckoff?
Wyckoff ranks #6,464 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.69 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 5,054 people with the surname Wyckoff. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (5,796), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.69 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.69 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 Wyckoff.
Has Wyckoff become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Wyckoff went from 5,262 recorded bearers to 5,054. That is a decrease of 208 (-4.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #6,451 to #6,464.
What does the Census say about the background of Wyckoff?
Among Census respondents with the surname Wyckoff, the largest self-reported group is White at 83.8%. The next largest groups are Black (8.2%) and Two or More Races (3.7%). 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 Wyckoff in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.8% (4,233 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Wyckoff appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (83.8%), Black (8.2%), Two or More Races (3.7%). 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 Wyckoff (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 Wyckoff mean?
From a Dutch place name meaning "parish court," likely referring to a family who lived near such a place. 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 Wyckoff (1.69 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 common is the surname Wyckoff?
Want to know how many people are called Wyckoff? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.