Wayne Knight
There are approximately 100 people named Wayne Knight living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 3,427,543 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Wayne with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Knight. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and ancestry information.
Expected bearers
100
1 in 3,427,543
Named Wayne
216K
Alive today
Named Knight
159K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 216K
Rarity: Common
Gender: Male
Peak year: 1947
Average age: 65
Estimated bearers: 159K
Rarity: Common
Census rank: #209
Per 100K: 46.35
Top ancestry: White (72.3%)
First name trend
Wayne: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Wayne. The peak year was 1947 with 10,201 births. The average person named Wayne today is 65 years old.
Babies born per year
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Knight surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Knight, from the 2010 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 72.3%.
- White72.3%
- Black or African American21.6%
- Hispanic or Latino2.5%
- Two or more races2.2%
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9%
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5%
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name Wayne has a living-bearer frequency of 0.0631% of the US population, based on 216,378 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
The surname Knight appears at a rate of 46.35 per 100,000 residents in the 2010 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.0464%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 100 people with the full name Wayne Knight. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named Wayne
Related
Other people with the surname Knight
FAQ
Wayne Knight: questions and answers
How many people are named Wayne Knight?
We estimate approximately 100 people in the United States share the full name Wayne Knight. That works out to about 1 in 3,427,543 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.0631%) with the surname frequency (46.35 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Wayne Knight?
We classify Wayne Knight as "Very Rare". About 1 in 3,427,543 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is Wayne a male or female name?
Wayne is predominantly male. Out of 355,989 total SSA registrations, 99.5% were male and 0.5% were female. See the full Wayne profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2010 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.