How common is the surname Hanks?

17,498 people in the United States had the surname Hanks in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 17,645 Americans. It ranked 2,066th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Hanks?

Tom Hanks, American actor and film producer (born 1956), followed by Jim Hanks.

Where is the surname Hanks most common?

Wikidata records people named Hanks in the United States.

Is the surname Hanks getting more or less common?

More common. 17,141 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 17,498 in 2010, up 2.1%.

The surname Hanks

A patronymic surname, carried by 17,498 people in the United States.

1 syllable Soundex H520

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Hanks is more common than 98.7% of them.

Origin

From Hank + -s. * (surname): From Hank + the patronymic suffix -s. * (plural): From Hank + the pluralization suffix -s.

Hanks 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 17,498 people named Hanks in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 17,645 Americans. That is up 2.1% since 2000, when the Census counted 17,141.

#2,066

rank among US surnames

17,498

people in 2010

5.9

per 100,000 Americans

+2.1%

change since 2000 (was #1,928)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#2,057	Michaels	17,528	17,614
#2,058	Champion	17,527	17,615
#2,059	Whittington	17,517	17,625
#2,060	Aldrich	17,509	17,634
#2,061	Heredia	17,506	17,637
#2,062	Denny	17,503	17,640
#2,063	Waldron	17,501	17,642

Who is named Hanks

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

83% of people named Hanks identified as white (not Hispanic), 10% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.6% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 83%
Black (not Hispanic) 10%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.6%
Two or more races 1.9%
American Indian and Alaska Native 1.5%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.4%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Hankss

6 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Tom Hanks
American actor and film producer (born 1956)
Jim Hanks
American actor, born 1961
Colin Hanks
American actor (born 1977)
Sam Hanks
American racing driver (1914-1994)
Thomas C. Hanks
American seismologist (1944–2024)
Chet Hanks
American actor and musician, born 1990

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Hankes

Surnames that sound like Hanks

Hanks has the Soundex code H520, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code H520.

Questions

Where does the surname Hanks come from?: From Hank + -s. * (surname): From Hank + the patronymic suffix -s. * (plural): From Hank + the pluralization suffix -s.
How common is the surname Hanks?: 17,498 people in the United States had the surname Hanks in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 17,645 Americans. It ranked 2,066th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Hanks?: In the 2010 Census, 83% of people named Hanks identified as white (not Hispanic), and 10% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Hanks?: Tom Hanks, American actor and film producer (born 1956), followed by Jim Hanks.
Where is the surname Hanks most common?: Wikidata records people named Hanks in the United States.
What type of surname is Hanks?: Hanks is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
Is the surname Hanks getting more or less common?: More common. 17,141 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 17,498 in 2010, up 2.1%.
What are other spellings of Hanks?: Hankes.