How common is the surname Kirkwood?

8,227 people in the United States had the surname Kirkwood in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 37,528 Americans. It ranked 4,320th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Kirkwood?

Daniel Kirkwood, American astronomer (1814–1895), followed by James Kirkwood.

Where is the surname Kirkwood most common?

Wikidata records people named Kirkwood in the United States and South Africa.

How do you pronounce Kirkwood?

Kirkwood is /ˈkɝkwʊd/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname Kirkwood getting more or less common?

More common. 7,977 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 8,227 in 2010, up 3.1%.

The surname Kirkwood

An English place surname, carried by 8,227 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈkɝkwʊd/ 2 syllables Soundex K623

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Kirkwood is more common than 97.3% of them.

Origin

English origin

From Old English ċiriċe (“church”) + wudu (“wood”), equivalent to kirk + wood.

Kirkwood 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 8,227 people named Kirkwood in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 37,528 Americans. That is up 3.1% since 2000, when the Census counted 7,977.

#4,320

rank among US surnames

8,227

people in 2010

2.8

per 100,000 Americans

+3.1%

change since 2000 (was #4,115)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#4,311	Fogarty	8,245	37,446
#4,312	Prosser	8,244	37,451
#4,314	Derosa	8,241	37,465
#4,315	Poore	8,240	37,469
#4,317	Ives	8,233	37,501
#4,318	Winfield	8,230	37,515
#4,319	Sprouse	8,229	37,519

Who is named Kirkwood

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

67% of people named Kirkwood identified as white (not Hispanic), 28% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.3% as two or more races.

White (not Hispanic) 67%
Black (not Hispanic) 28%
Two or more races 2.3%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.0%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.4%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Kirkwoods

9 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Daniel Kirkwood
American astronomer (1814–1895)
James Kirkwood
American actor and film director (1875–1963)
Langley Kirkwood
British actor, born 1973
Samuel J. Kirkwood
American politician (1813-1894)
James Kirkwood, Jr.
American playwright, author and actor (1924-1989)
Kyle Kirkwood
American racing driver, born 1998
David Kirkwood
American former modern pentathlete (1935-2012)
Curt Kirkwood
American musician, born 1959
John Gamble Kirkwood
American scientist (1907–1959)

Notable Kirkwoods come mostly from the United States (8) and South Africa (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Kerwood

Kirkwood has the Soundex code K623, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code K623.

Other English surnames

All 1,446 English surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Kirkwood come from?: From Old English ċiriċe (“church”) + wudu (“wood”), equivalent to kirk + wood.
How common is the surname Kirkwood?: 8,227 people in the United States had the surname Kirkwood in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 37,528 Americans. It ranked 4,320th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Kirkwood?: In the 2010 Census, 67% of people named Kirkwood identified as white (not Hispanic), and 28% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Kirkwood?: Daniel Kirkwood, American astronomer (1814–1895), followed by James Kirkwood.
Where is the surname Kirkwood most common?: Wikidata records people named Kirkwood in the United States and South Africa.
How do you pronounce Kirkwood?: Kirkwood is /ˈkɝkwʊd/, 2 syllables.
What type of surname is Kirkwood?: Kirkwood is a place surname, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.
Is the surname Kirkwood getting more or less common?: More common. 7,977 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 8,227 in 2010, up 3.1%.
What are other spellings of Kirkwood?: Kerwood.