How common is the surname Baker?

419,586 people in the United States had the surname Baker in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 736 Americans. It ranked 44th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Baker?

Josephine Baker, American-born French dancer, singer and actress (1906–1975), followed by Philip Noel-Baker, Baron Noel-Baker.

The surnameBaker

An occupational surname, the 44th most common in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈbeɪkɚ/ 2 syllables Soundex B260 Also a first name

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Baker is more common than 99.9% of them.

Origin

An English surname originating as an occupation for a baker, or owner of a communal oven

Baker is an occupational surname: named after the work an ancestor did.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 419,586 people named Baker in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 736 Americans. That is up 1.5% since 2000, when the Census counted 413,351.

#44

rank among US surnames

419,586

people in 2010

142

per 100,000 Americans

+1.5%

change since 2000 (was #38)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#35	Wright	458,980	673
#36	Scott	439,530	702
#37	Torres	437,813	705
#38	Nguyen	437,645	705
#39	Hill	434,827	710
#40	Flores	433,969	711
#41	Green	430,182	718

Who is named Baker

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

80% of people named Baker identified as white (not Hispanic), 14% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.3% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 80%
Black (not Hispanic) 14%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.3%
Two or more races 2.0%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.9%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.6%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Bakers

138 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Josephine Baker
American-born French dancer, singer and actress (1906–1975)
Philip Noel-Baker, Baron Noel-Baker
British athlete, politician, Cabinet minister, life peer and Nobel Peace Prize winner (188
Carroll Baker
American actress (born 1931)
Chet Baker
American jazz trumpeter and vocalist (1929-1988)
James Baker
American lawyer and statesman (born 1930)
Simon Baker
Australian actor and director (born 1969)
Mary Baker Eddy
American founder of Christian Science (1821–1910)
David Baker
American biochemist and computational biologist (born 1962)
Dee Bradley Baker
American voice actor (born 1962)
Sean Baker
American film director, born 1971
Ginger Baker
British drummer (1939–2019)
Kathy Baker
American actress (born 1950)

Notable Bakers come mostly from the United States (123), the United Kingdom (6) and Australia (5).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Backer

Surnames that sound like Baker

Baker has the Soundex code B260, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code B260.

Questions

How common is the surname Baker?: 419,586 people in the United States had the surname Baker in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 736 Americans. It ranked 44th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Baker?: In the 2010 Census, 80% of people named Baker identified as white (not Hispanic), and 14% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Baker?: Josephine Baker, American-born French dancer, singer and actress (1906–1975), followed by Philip Noel-Baker, Baron Noel-Baker.