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The surname Hamlet

A surname, carried by 3,227 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈhæm.lət/ 2 syllables Soundex H543 Also a first name

Hamlet: #9,994 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#1,000Archer Hamlet #9,994, 3,227 people Hamlet: #9,994 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#100Jimenez Hamlet #9,994, 3,227 people
Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Hamlet is more common than 93.8% of them.

Origin

From Latin Amlethus, as written by 13th-century Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus, and borrowed into English by way of François de Belleforest's French Hamlet, originally rendered as Hamblet in English. Ultimately from Old Danish Amlethæ, corresponding to Old Norse Amlóði (“fool”), claimed to be suggestive of the way that Hamlet acts in the play, from ama (“to annoy”).

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 3,227 people named Hamlet in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 95,676 Americans. That is up 4.3% since 2000, when the Census counted 3,094.

#9,994
rank among US surnames
3,227
people in 2010
1.1
per 100,000 Americans
+4.3%
change since 2000 (was #9,641)
RankSurnamePeople1 in
#9,987Chavers3,23095,587
#9,989Sonnenberg3,22995,616
#9,991Leek3,22895,646
#9,994Shoaf3,22795,676
#9,997Sword3,22595,735
#9,998Jaques3,22495,765
#10,001Dubon3,22395,794

Who is named Hamlet

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

61% of people named Hamlet identified as white (not Hispanic), 34% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.9% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

  • White (not Hispanic) 61%
  • Black (not Hispanic) 34%
  • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.9%
  • Two or more races 1.6%
  • Asian and Pacific Islander 0.4%
  • American Indian and Alaska Native 0.2%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Surnames that sound like Hamlet

Hamlet has the Soundex code H543, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code H543.

Questions

Where does the surname Hamlet come from?
From Latin Amlethus, as written by 13th-century Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus, and borrowed into English by way of François de Belleforest's French Hamlet, originally rendered as Hamblet in English. Ultimately from Old Danish Amlethæ, corresponding to Old Norse Amlóði (“fool”), claimed to be…
How common is the surname Hamlet?
3,227 people in the United States had the surname Hamlet in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 95,676 Americans. It ranked 9,994th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Hamlet?
In the 2010 Census, 61% of people named Hamlet identified as white (not Hispanic), and 34% as Black (not Hispanic).
How do you pronounce Hamlet?
Hamlet is /ˈhæm.lət/, 2 syllables.
Is the surname Hamlet getting more or less common?
More common. 3,094 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 3,227 in 2010, up 4.3%.
What are other spellings of Hamlet?
Hamblet, Hamblett and Hamlett.
Is Hamlet also a first name?
Yes. Hamlet 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.