How common is the surname King?

465,422 people in the United States had the surname King in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 663 Americans. It ranked 34th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named King?

Martin Luther King Jr., American Baptist minister and civil rights leader (1929–1968), followed by Stephen King.

The surnameKing

A nickname surname, the 34th most common in the United States.

Pronounced /kɪŋ/ 1 syllable Soundex K520 Also a first name

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). King is more common than 99.9% of them.

Origin

An English and Scottish surname transferred from the nickname, originally a nickname for someone who either acted as if he were a king or had worked in the king's household.

King is a nickname surname: from a description or nickname of an ancestor.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 465,422 people named King in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 663 Americans. That is up 6.0% since 2000, when the Census counted 438,986.

#34

rank among US surnames

465,422

people in 2010

158

per 100,000 Americans

+6%

change since 2000 (was #35)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#25	Harris	624,252	495
#26	Sánchez	612,752	504
#27	Clark	562,679	549
#28	Ramirez	557,423	554
#29	Lewis	531,781	581
#30	Robinson	529,821	583
#31	Walker	523,129	590

Who is named King

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

70% of people named King identified as white (not Hispanic), 23% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.5% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 70%
Black (not Hispanic) 23%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.5%
Two or more races 2.3%
Asian and Pacific Islander 1.2%
American Indian and Alaska Native 1.0%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Kings

169 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Martin Luther King Jr.
American Baptist minister and civil rights leader (1929–1968)
Stephen King
American novelist and writer (born 1947)
Larry King
American television and radio host (1933–2021)
Billie Jean King
American tennis player (born 1943)
Joey King
American actress (born 1999)
Coretta Scott King
American author, activist, eta eskubide zibilen liderra; Martin Luther Kingen emaztea, 1927–2006
Candice King
American actress and singer, born 1987
Carole King
American singer-songwriter and musician (born 1942)
Regina King
American actress and director (born 1971)
William Lyon Mackenzie King
10th Prime Minister of Canada (1874–1950)
Kerry King
American guitarist (born 1964)
Rodney King
African American police brutality victim (1965–2012)

Notable Kings come mostly from the United States (139), the United Kingdom (17) and Australia (4).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like King

King has the Soundex code K520, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code K520.

Questions

How common is the surname King?: 465,422 people in the United States had the surname King in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 663 Americans. It ranked 34th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname King?: In the 2010 Census, 70% of people named King identified as white (not Hispanic), and 23% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named King?: Martin Luther King Jr., American Baptist minister and civil rights leader (1929–1968), followed by Stephen King.