# Knowles (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/knowles/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname from Middle English.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | English |
| Type | place, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 28,460 |
| US rank (2010) | 1,239 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 10,848 people |
| Change since 2000 | +3.9% (27,380 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /noʊlz/, 1 syllable |
| Variant spellings | Knoles, Knollys, Noles |

## Etymology

Topographic surname for someone who lived at the top of a hill, from a genitive or plural form of Middle English knol (“hilltop, hillock”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Knowles in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 81% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 13% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.7% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.6% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.6% |
| Two or more races | 1.9% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Knowles in the United States, The Bahamas, Australia and the United Kingdom.

## People named Knowles

- William Standish Knowles, American chemist (1917–2012)
- Solange Knowles, American singer, songwriter, and actress (born 1986)
- Mark Knowles, Bahamian tennis player
- Tina Knowles, American businesswoman and fashion designer, mother of Beyoncé and Solange Knowles
- Durward Knowles, British-Bahamian sailor
- Carl Knowles, American basketball player (1910-1981)
- Mark Knowles, Australian field hockey player
- Mathew Knowles, American music executive, businessman, record producer, and manager
- Patric Knowles, actor, novelist
- Malcolm Knowles, Adult educator (1913–1997)
- Shanica Knowles, American actress and singer
- Alison Knowles, American mixed-media and performance artist (born 1933-2025)

and 5 more on Wikidata.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.