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    The surname Faulkner

    An occupational surname, carried by 36,466 people in the United States.

    Pronounced /ˈfɔ(l)k.nɚ/ 2 syllables Soundex F425

    Faulkner: #952 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#10,001Dubon Faulkner #952, 36,466 people Faulkner: #952 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#100Jimenez Faulkner #952, 36,466 people
    Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Faulkner is more common than 99.4% of them.

    Origin

    A variant of the Scottish surname Falconer.

    Faulkner is an occupational surname: named after the work an ancestor did.

    Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

    How common it is

    2010 US Census

    There were 36,466 people named Faulkner in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 8,467 Americans. That is up 3.0% since 2000, when the Census counted 35,389.

    #952
    rank among US surnames
    36,466
    people in 2010
    12
    per 100,000 Americans
    +3%
    change since 2000 (was #896)
    RankSurnamePeople1 in
    #943Parra36,7658,398
    #944Woodward36,7648,398
    #945Jaramillo36,7558,400
    #946Krueger36,7438,403
    #947Rasmussen36,6368,427
    #948Brandt36,6138,433
    #949Peralta36,5858,439

    Who is named Faulkner

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

    79% of people named Faulkner identified as white (not Hispanic), 15% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.3% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

    • White (not Hispanic) 79%
    • Black (not Hispanic) 15%
    • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.3%
    • Two or more races 1.8%
    • American Indian and Alaska Native 0.6%
    • Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%

    Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

    Famous Faulkners

    11 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

    • William Faulkner
      American writer (1897-1962)
    • Kristen Faulkner
      American cyclist, born 1992
    • James Faulkner
      Australian cricketer, born 1990
    • Edward Faulkner
      American actor, 1932–2025
    • Judith R. Faulkner
      American computer scientist and business executive, born 1943
    • Neil Faulkner
      British archaeologist (1958–2022)
    • Jamierra Faulkner
      American basketball player, born 1992
    • Charles James Faulkner
      American politician (1847-1929)
    • John Faulkner
      Australian politician, born 1954
    • Graham Faulkner
      British actor, born 1947
    • Kay Swift
      American composer of popular and classical music (1897–1993)

    Notable Faulkners come mostly from the United States (6), Australia (2) and the United Kingdom (2).

    Spellings and sound-alikes

    Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

    Surnames that sound like Faulkner

    Faulkner has the Soundex code F425, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code F425.

    Questions

    Where does the surname Faulkner come from?
    A variant of the Scottish surname Falconer.
    How common is the surname Faulkner?
    36,466 people in the United States had the surname Faulkner in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 8,467 Americans. It ranked 952nd of 162,253 surnames.
    What ethnicity is the surname Faulkner?
    In the 2010 Census, 79% of people named Faulkner identified as white (not Hispanic), and 15% as Black (not Hispanic).
    Who is the most famous person named Faulkner?
    William Faulkner, American writer (1897-1962), followed by Kristen Faulkner.
    Where is the surname Faulkner most common?
    Wikidata records people named Faulkner in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom and 1 other country.
    How do you pronounce Faulkner?
    Faulkner is /ˈfɔ(l)k.nɚ/, 2 syllables.
    What type of surname is Faulkner?
    Faulkner is an occupational surname, named after the work an ancestor did.
    Is the surname Faulkner getting more or less common?
    More common. 35,389 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 36,466 in 2010, up 3.0%.