How common is the surname Lake?

32,104 people in the United States had the surname Lake in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 9,617 Americans. It ranked 1,091st of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Lake?

Veronica Lake, American actress (1922–1973), followed by Ricki Lake.

Where is the surname Lake most common?

Wikidata records people named Lake in the United States, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Australia and 2 other countries.

Is the surname Lake getting more or less common?

More common. 30,924 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 32,104 in 2010, up 3.8%.

Is Lake also a first name?

Yes. Lake is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Lake

A surname, carried by 32,104 people in the United States.

1 syllable Soundex L200 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). Lake is more common than 99.3% of them.

Origin

Derived from the noun lake.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 32,104 people named Lake in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 9,617 Americans. That is up 3.8% since 2000, when the Census counted 30,924.

#1,091

rank among US surnames

32,104

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+3.8%

change since 2000 (was #1,035)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#1,082	Zapata	32,274	9,566
#1,083	Fulton	32,258	9,571
#1,084	Kang	32,221	9,582
#1,085	Sears	32,206	9,587
#1,086	Lehman	32,180	9,594
#1,087	Byers	32,174	9,596
#1,088	Snider	32,148	9,604

Who is named Lake

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

81% of people named Lake identified as white (not Hispanic), 12% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.6% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 81%
Black (not Hispanic) 12%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.6%
Two or more races 2.1%
American Indian and Alaska Native 1.2%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.9%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Lakes

17 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Veronica Lake
American actress (1922–1973)
Ricki Lake
American television host and actress (born 1968)
Alice Lake
Actress (1895-1967)
Anthony Lake
American academic and diplomat, born 1939
Kari Lake
American journalist and politician, head of Voice of America (born 1969)
Arthur Lake
Actor (1905-1987)
Oliver Lake
American musician (born 1942)
John Henry Lake
American racing cyclist, 1877–1901
Christi Lake
American pornographic actress & director, born 1964
Leonard Lake
American serial killer (1945–1985)
Gerard Lake, 1st Viscount Lake
British Army general (1744-1808)
Simon Lake
American inventor (1866–1945)

Notable Lakes come mostly from the United States (13), the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1) and Australia (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Lake

Lake has the Soundex code L200, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code L200.

Questions

Where does the surname Lake come from?: Derived from the noun lake.
How common is the surname Lake?: 32,104 people in the United States had the surname Lake in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 9,617 Americans. It ranked 1,091st of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Lake?: In the 2010 Census, 81% of people named Lake identified as white (not Hispanic), and 12% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Lake?: Veronica Lake, American actress (1922–1973), followed by Ricki Lake.
Where is the surname Lake most common?: Wikidata records people named Lake in the United States, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Australia and 2 other countries.
Is the surname Lake getting more or less common?: More common. 30,924 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 32,104 in 2010, up 3.8%.
Is Lake also a first name?: Yes. Lake is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.