How common is the surname Emerson?

30,702 people in the United States had the surname Emerson in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 10,056 Americans. It ranked 1,145th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Emerson?

Ralph Waldo Emerson, American philosopher (1803–1882), followed by Michael Emerson.

Where is the surname Emerson most common?

Wikidata records people named Emerson in the United States and Australia.

How do you pronounce Emerson?

Emerson is /ˈɛmɚ.sən/, 3 syllables.

Is the surname Emerson getting more or less common?

More common. 30,028 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 30,702 in 2010, up 2.2%.

Is Emerson also a first name?

Yes. Emerson 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 Emerson

A patronymic surname, carried by 30,702 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈɛmɚ.sən/ 3 syllables Soundex E562 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). Emerson is more common than 99.3% of them.

Origin

From Emery + -son.

Emerson is a patronymic surname: formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 30,702 people named Emerson in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 10,056 Americans. That is up 2.2% since 2000, when the Census counted 30,028.

#1,145

rank among US surnames

30,702

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+2.2%

change since 2000 (was #1,066)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#1,136	Segura	30,880	9,998
#1,137	Beach	30,867	10,002
#1,138	Castellanos	30,859	10,005
#1,139	Tillman	30,825	10,016
#1,140	Alford	30,771	10,034
#1,141	McLeod	30,769	10,034
#1,143	Mackey	30,749	10,041

Who is named Emerson

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

85% of people named Emerson identified as white (not Hispanic), 8.2% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.7% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 85%
Black (not Hispanic) 8.2%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.7%
Two or more races 2.0%
American Indian and Alaska Native 1.6%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.7%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Emersons

18 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Ralph Waldo Emerson
American philosopher (1803–1882)
Michael Emerson
American actor (born 1954)
Roy Emerson
Australian tennis player, born 1936
E. Allen Emerson
American computer scientist (1954–2024)
Hope Emerson
American actress (1897–1960)
Jacqueline Emerson
American actress and singer, born 1994
Faye Emerson
American actress (1917–1983)
Gladys Emerson
American historian, biochemist and nutritionist (1903–1984)
Douglas Emerson
American actor, born 1974
Harrington Emerson
American efficiency engineer and business theorist (1853–1931)
Jo Ann Emerson
American politician, born 1950
Claudia Emerson
American academic, writer and poet, 1957–2014

Notable Emersons come mostly from the United States (16) and Australia (2).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Emmerson

Surnames that sound like Emerson

Emerson has the Soundex code E562, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code E562.

Questions

Where does the surname Emerson come from?: From Emery + -son.
How common is the surname Emerson?: 30,702 people in the United States had the surname Emerson in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 10,056 Americans. It ranked 1,145th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Emerson?: In the 2010 Census, 85% of people named Emerson identified as white (not Hispanic), and 8.2% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Emerson?: Ralph Waldo Emerson, American philosopher (1803–1882), followed by Michael Emerson.
Where is the surname Emerson most common?: Wikidata records people named Emerson in the United States and Australia.
How do you pronounce Emerson?: Emerson is /ˈɛmɚ.sən/, 3 syllables.
What type of surname is Emerson?: Emerson is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
Is the surname Emerson getting more or less common?: More common. 30,028 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 30,702 in 2010, up 2.2%.
What are other spellings of Emerson?: Emmerson.
Is Emerson also a first name?: Yes. Emerson 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.