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

Yerkes, 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 Yerkes surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Yerkes in America

Yerkes is the 15560th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Yerkes surname appeared 1,880 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Yerkes.

We can also compare 2010 data for Yerkes 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 Yerkes

The surname Yerkes traces its origins to England, believed to have emerged during the medieval period. The name is thought to be a variation of the Old English given name "Georgius," which later transformed into "York" and other phonetic iterations through linguistic evolution. Traditionally, it is associated with the Yorkshire region in northern England. The surname is also connected to the Old Norse name "Geirr," denoting someone who carries a spear, indicating that it may have spread during the time of the Norse invasions and settlements in the 8th to 11th centuries.

The earliest recorded usage of the Yerkes surname appears in various forms in historical records. One of the first known instances is found in the Poll Tax records of Yorkshire, dated 1379, where the name appears as "Thomas de Yorker." The name also appears in other medieval documents with spellings such as "Yerks" and "Yerkes," reflecting the inconsistent spelling conventions of the time.

Among the notable early individuals with this surname, Sir John Yerkes, born in 1425, was a landowner in Yorkshire known for his contributions to local governance. The 17th-century figure, Thomas Yerkes, born in 1608, was a merchant who played a significant role in the economic expansion of the English Midlands. Another prominent individual, Peter Yerkes, who emigrated to America in the early 18th century, established significant ties in the Pennsylvania colony, assisting in the development of early American industry and commerce.

In the realm of science, Charles Yerkes Wormely, born in 1766, made significant contributions to early chemistry studies in England. The American financier Charles Tyson Yerkes, born on June 25, 1837, and died on December 29, 1905, was instrumental in the development of mass transit systems in Chicago and London, leaving a lasting legacy in urban infrastructure.

The Yerkes surname is also connected with the famous Yerkes Observatory, named after the American astronomer George Ellery Hale's benefactor Charles Tyson Yerkes. The observatory, established in 1897 in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, has been a hub for astronomical research and discovery.

Through centuries, the surname Yerkes has carried a legacy linked with regional pride, economic enterprise, and scientific achievement, providing a fascinating glimpse into the contributions and migrations of families that bore the name.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Yerkes

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!