Skip to content
Name Lineage

    The surname Jenkins

    A patronymic surname, carried by 222,653 people in the United States.

    Pronounced /ˈd͡ʒɛŋkɪnz/ 2 syllables Soundex J525

    Jenkins: #102 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#1,000Archer#10,001Dubon Jenkins #102, 222,653 people Jenkins: #102 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#1,000Archer Jenkins #102, 222,653 people
    Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Jenkins is more common than 99.9% of them.

    Origin

    A patronymic surname that is derived from the male given name John + -kin (which forms diminutive )+ -s (denoting "son of") hence meaning "son of little John". It was originally an offshoot of the male medieval name Jenkin/Jankin. The name was brought from the crusaders; it originated in Cornwall but became popular in England and Wales.

    Jenkins 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 222,653 people named Jenkins in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 1,387 Americans. That is up 4.2% since 2000, when the Census counted 213,737.

    #102
    rank among US surnames
    222,653
    people in 2010
    75
    per 100,000 Americans
    +4.2%
    change since 2000 (was #95)
    RankSurnamePeople1 in
    #93Castillo230,4201,340
    #94Sanders230,3741,340
    #95Patel229,9731,343
    #96Myers229,8951,343
    #97Long229,3741,346
    #98Ross229,3681,346
    #99Foster227,7641,356

    Who is named Jenkins

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

    58% of people named Jenkins identified as white (not Hispanic), 37% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.4% as two or more races.

    • White (not Hispanic) 58%
    • Black (not Hispanic) 37%
    • Two or more races 2.4%
    • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.1%
    • American Indian and Alaska Native 0.6%
    • Asian and Pacific Islander 0.4%

    Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

    Spellings and sound-alikes

    Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

    Variant spellings

    • Jinkins

    Surnames that sound like Jenkins

    Jenkins has the Soundex code J525, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code J525.

    Questions

    Where does the surname Jenkins come from?
    A patronymic surname that is derived from the male given name John + -kin (which forms diminutive )+ -s (denoting "son of") hence meaning "son of little John". It was originally an offshoot of the male medieval name Jenkin/Jankin. The name was brought from the crusaders; it originated in Cornwall…
    How common is the surname Jenkins?
    222,653 people in the United States had the surname Jenkins in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 1,387 Americans. It ranked 102nd of 162,253 surnames.
    What ethnicity is the surname Jenkins?
    In the 2010 Census, 58% of people named Jenkins identified as white (not Hispanic), and 37% as Black (not Hispanic).
    How do you pronounce Jenkins?
    Jenkins is /ˈd͡ʒɛŋkɪnz/, 2 syllables.
    What type of surname is Jenkins?
    Jenkins is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
    Is the surname Jenkins getting more or less common?
    More common. 213,737 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 222,653 in 2010, up 4.2%.
    What are other spellings of Jenkins?
    Jinkins.