How common is the surname Harkness?

5,783 people in the United States had the surname Harkness in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 53,388 Americans. It ranked 5,953rd of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Harkness?

Deborah Harkness, American scholar, novelist and wine enthusiast, followed by William Harkness.

Where is the surname Harkness most common?

Wikidata records people named Harkness in the United States.

How do you pronounce Harkness?

Harkness is /ˈhɑɹknəs/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname Harkness getting more or less common?

More common. 5,635 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 5,783 in 2010, up 2.6%.

The surname Harkness

An English place surname, carried by 5,783 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈhɑɹknəs/ 2 syllables Soundex H625

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Harkness is more common than 96.3% of them.

Origin

English origin

A topographic name, from Old English hearg (“altar; grove; temple”) + næs (“promontory, cape, peninsula”).

Harkness is a place surname: taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.

One of 1,446 English surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 5,783 people named Harkness in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 53,388 Americans. That is up 2.6% since 2000, when the Census counted 5,635.

#5,953

rank among US surnames

5,783

people in 2010

2.0

per 100,000 Americans

+2.6%

change since 2000 (was #5,648)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#5,948	Tyrrell	5,788	53,342
#5,949	Sandifer	5,786	53,361
#5,951	Meagher	5,784	53,379
#5,953	Harkness	5,783	53,388

Who is named Harkness

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

83% of people named Harkness identified as white (not Hispanic), 11% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.4% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 83%
Black (not Hispanic) 11%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.4%
Two or more races 1.9%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.6%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.5%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Harknesss

6 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Deborah Harkness
American scholar, novelist and wine enthusiast, born 1965
William Harkness
American Civil War surgeon and astronomer (1837–1903)
Rebekah Harkness
American artist, composer, philanthropist, and founder of the Harkness Ballet (1915-1982)
Jerry Harkness
American basketball player (1940–2021)
Edward Harkness
American philanthropist (1874-1940)
Arma Senkrah
American violonist (1864–1900)

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Harkness

Harkness has the Soundex code H625, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code H625.

Other English surnames

All 1,446 English surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Harkness come from?: A topographic name, from Old English hearg (“altar; grove; temple”) + næs (“promontory, cape, peninsula”).
How common is the surname Harkness?: 5,783 people in the United States had the surname Harkness in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 53,388 Americans. It ranked 5,953rd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Harkness?: In the 2010 Census, 83% of people named Harkness identified as white (not Hispanic), and 11% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Harkness?: Deborah Harkness, American scholar, novelist and wine enthusiast, followed by William Harkness.
Where is the surname Harkness most common?: Wikidata records people named Harkness in the United States.
How do you pronounce Harkness?: Harkness is /ˈhɑɹknəs/, 2 syllables.
What type of surname is Harkness?: Harkness is a place surname, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.
Is the surname Harkness getting more or less common?: More common. 5,635 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 5,783 in 2010, up 2.6%.