How common is the surname Earnest?

7,968 people in the United States had the surname Earnest in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 38,748 Americans. It ranked 4,452nd of 162,253 surnames.

Is the surname Earnest getting more or less common?

More common. 7,865 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 7,968 in 2010, up 1.3%.

The surname Earnest

A surname, carried by 7,968 people in the United States.

2 syllables Soundex E652

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Earnest is more common than 97.3% of them.

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 7,968 people named Earnest in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 38,748 Americans. That is up 1.3% since 2000, when the Census counted 7,865.

#4,452

rank among US surnames

7,968

people in 2010

2.7

per 100,000 Americans

+1.3%

change since 2000 (was #4,177)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#4,444	Vaca	7,982	38,680
#4,445	Magnuson	7,980	38,690
#4,446	Keyser	7,978	38,700
#4,447	Allman	7,977	38,704
#4,448	Durkin	7,975	38,714
#4,449	Alvarenga	7,973	38,724
#4,451	Segal	7,972	38,729

Who is named Earnest

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

86% of people named Earnest identified as white (not Hispanic), 9.4% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.3% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 86%
Black (not Hispanic) 9.4%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.3%
Two or more races 1.5%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.7%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.3%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Earnest

Earnest has the Soundex code E652, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code E652.

Questions

How common is the surname Earnest?: 7,968 people in the United States had the surname Earnest in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 38,748 Americans. It ranked 4,452nd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Earnest?: In the 2010 Census, 86% of people named Earnest identified as white (not Hispanic), and 9.4% as Black (not Hispanic).
Is the surname Earnest getting more or less common?: More common. 7,865 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 7,968 in 2010, up 1.3%.