How common is the surname Brooks?

251,663 people in the United States had the surname Brooks in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 1,227 Americans. It ranked 82nd of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Brooks?

Mel Brooks, American comedian, filmmaker, and actor (born 1926), followed by Garth Brooks.

Where is the surname Brooks most common?

Wikidata records people named Brooks in the United States, Australia and Italy and 1 other country.

How do you pronounce Brooks?

Brooks is /bɹʊks/, one syllable.

Is the surname Brooks getting more or less common?

More common. 240,751 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 251,663 in 2010, up 4.5%.

Is Brooks also a first name?

Yes. Brooks is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Brooks

A place surname, the 82nd most common in the United States.

Pronounced /bɹʊks/ 1 syllable Soundex B620 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). Brooks is more common than 99.9% of them.

Origin

A topographic surname from Middle English, variant of Brook.

Brooks is a place surname: taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 251,663 people named Brooks in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 1,227 Americans. That is up 4.5% since 2000, when the Census counted 240,751.

#82

rank among US surnames

251,663

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+4.5%

change since 2000 (was #77)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#73	Reed	277,030	1,114
#74	Kelly	267,394	1,155
#75	Howard	264,826	1,166
#76	Ramos	263,464	1,172
#77	Kim	262,352	1,177
#78	Cox	261,231	1,182
#79	Ward	260,464	1,185

Who is named Brooks

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

60% of people named Brooks identified as white (not Hispanic), 33% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.6% as two or more races.

White (not Hispanic) 60%
Black (not Hispanic) 33%
Two or more races 2.6%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.5%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.8%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Brookss

95 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Mel Brooks
American comedian, filmmaker, and actor (born 1926)
Garth Brooks
American country music singer and songwriter, born 1962
James L. Brooks
American director, writer, and producer (born 1940)
Louise Brooks
American actress (1906–1985)
Gwendolyn Brooks
American writer (1917–2000)
Albert Brooks
American actor and comedian, born 1947
Fred Brooks
American computer scientist (1931–2022); author of The Mythical Man-Month and 'No Silver B
Richard Brooks
American screenwriter, film director and producer (1912-1992)
Geraldine Brooks
Australian-American journalist and author, born 1955
Danielle Brooks
American actress, born 1989
Mehcad Brooks
American actor and model, born 1980
Avery Brooks
American actor and director, born 1948

Notable Brookss come mostly from the United States (87), Australia (4) and Italy (2).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Brook

Surnames that sound like Brooks

Brooks has the Soundex code B620, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code B620.

Questions

How common is the surname Brooks?: 251,663 people in the United States had the surname Brooks in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 1,227 Americans. It ranked 82nd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Brooks?: In the 2010 Census, 60% of people named Brooks identified as white (not Hispanic), and 33% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Brooks?: Mel Brooks, American comedian, filmmaker, and actor (born 1926), followed by Garth Brooks.
Where is the surname Brooks most common?: Wikidata records people named Brooks in the United States, Australia and Italy and 1 other country.
How do you pronounce Brooks?: Brooks is /bɹʊks/, one syllable.
What type of surname is Brooks?: Brooks is a place surname, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.
Is the surname Brooks getting more or less common?: More common. 240,751 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 251,663 in 2010, up 4.5%.
What are other spellings of Brooks?: Brook.
Is Brooks also a first name?: Yes. Brooks is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.