How common is the surname Chamberlain?

28,727 people in the United States had the surname Chamberlain in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 10,748 Americans. It ranked 1,231st of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Chamberlain?

Owen Chamberlain, American physicist, followed by Richard Chamberlain.

Where is the surname Chamberlain most common?

Wikidata records people named Chamberlain in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Is the surname Chamberlain getting more or less common?

More common. 27,928 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 28,727 in 2010, up 2.9%.

Is Chamberlain also a first name?

Yes. Chamberlain 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 Chamberlain

A surname, carried by 28,727 people in the United States.

3 syllables Soundex C516

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Chamberlain is more common than 99.2% of them.

Origin

A surname.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 28,727 people named Chamberlain in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 10,748 Americans. That is up 2.9% since 2000, when the Census counted 27,928.

#1,231

rank among US surnames

28,727

people in 2010

9.7

per 100,000 Americans

+2.9%

change since 2000 (was #1,151)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#1,222	Bui	28,919	10,676
#1,223	Hilton	28,918	10,677
#1,224	Caballero	28,903	10,682
#1,225	Downing	28,880	10,691
#1,226	Sharpe	28,879	10,691
#1,227	Guy	28,852	10,701
#1,229	Rankin	28,821	10,713

Who is named Chamberlain

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

87% of people named Chamberlain identified as white (not Hispanic), 6.0% as Black (not Hispanic) and 3.4% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 87%
Black (not Hispanic) 6.0%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 3.4%
Two or more races 1.6%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.8%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.6%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Chamberlains

13 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Owen Chamberlain
American physicist, 1920–2006
Richard Chamberlain
American actor (1934–2025)
Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain
American military officer, professor, and 32nd Governor of Maine (1828–1914)
Emma Chamberlain
American media personality (born 2001)
Basil Hall Chamberlain
British academic (1850–1935)
Jay Chamberlain
American racing driver (1925-2001)
Matt Chamberlain
American musician, born 1967
John Chamberlain
American artist (1927-2011)
George Earle Chamberlain
American politician (1854-1928)
Daniel Henry Chamberlain
American planter, lawyer and politician (1835–1907)
Joba Chamberlain
Baseball pitcher from the United States, born 1985
Howland Chamberlain
Actor, 1911–1984

Notable Chamberlains come mostly from the United States (12) and the United Kingdom (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Chamberlaine

Surnames that sound like Chamberlain

Chamberlain has the Soundex code C516, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code C516.

Questions

How common is the surname Chamberlain?: 28,727 people in the United States had the surname Chamberlain in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 10,748 Americans. It ranked 1,231st of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Chamberlain?: In the 2010 Census, 87% of people named Chamberlain identified as white (not Hispanic), and 6.0% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Chamberlain?: Owen Chamberlain, American physicist, followed by Richard Chamberlain.
Where is the surname Chamberlain most common?: Wikidata records people named Chamberlain in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Is the surname Chamberlain getting more or less common?: More common. 27,928 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 28,727 in 2010, up 2.9%.
What are other spellings of Chamberlain?: Chamberlaine.
Is Chamberlain also a first name?: Yes. Chamberlain 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.