# Black (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/black/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname transferred from the nickname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | French |
| Type | nickname, from a description or nickname of an ancestor |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 154,738 |
| US rank (2010) | 174 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 1,995 people |
| Change since 2000 | +3.0% (150,186 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From Middle English blak (“black”). Also a variant of Blake, from Old English blāc (“pale”) and Blanc, from Old French blanc (“white”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Black in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 75% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 19% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.3% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.5% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 1.4% |
| Two or more races | 2.1% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Black in the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Canada.

## People named Black

- Jack Black, American actor, comedian, and musician (born 1969)
- Karen Black, American actress, screenwriter, singer, and songwriter (1939-2013)
- Rebecca Black, American singer (born 1997)
- Tori Black, American pornographic actress
- Lucas Black, American actor
- Claudia Black, Australian actress
- Shane Black, American actor, screenwriter and film director
- Bob Black, American anarchist
- Holly Black, American children's fiction writer
- Dustin Lance Black, American screenwriter, director and producer
- Lewis Black, American comedian and actor
- Jeremiah S. Black, American lawyer and politician (1810-1883)

and 50 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Blake, Block, Blakey, Bolick, Balk, Blick, Blas, Blasko, Blasco, Bullock, Bowles, Bliss.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.