How common is the surname Locke?

27,643 people in the United States had the surname Locke in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 11,169 Americans. It ranked 1,272nd of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Locke?

Gary Locke, American politician, followed by Spencer Locke.

Where is the surname Locke most common?

Wikidata records people named Locke in the United States, Belarus and the United Kingdom.

Is the surname Locke getting more or less common?

More common. 26,516 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 27,643 in 2010, up 4.3%.

The surname Locke

A Norse place surname, carried by 27,643 people in the United States.

Pronounced /lɑk/ 1 syllable Soundex L200

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Locke is more common than 99.2% of them.

Origin

Norse origin

* As an English, Dutch and German surname, variant of Lock. * As a Norwegian surname, Americanized from Løkke, from a farm name derived from Old Norse lykkja (“enclosure”). * As a Chinese surname, variant of Lok.

Locke is a place surname: taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.

One of 126 Norse surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 27,643 people named Locke in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 11,169 Americans. That is up 4.3% since 2000, when the Census counted 26,516.

#1,272

rank among US surnames

27,643

people in 2010

9.4

per 100,000 Americans

+4.3%

change since 2000 (was #1,210)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#1,263	Pryor	27,805	11,104
#1,264	Doherty	27,787	11,111
#1,265	Sargent	27,786	11,112
#1,266	Kenney	27,759	11,122
#1,267	Tuttle	27,751	11,126
#1,268	Denton	27,742	11,129
#1,269	Magee	27,720	11,138

Who is named Locke

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

81% of people named Locke identified as white (not Hispanic), 12% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.2% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 81%
Black (not Hispanic) 12%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.2%
Two or more races 2.2%
Asian and Pacific Islander 1.3%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.8%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Lockes

13 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Gary Locke
American politician, born 1950
Spencer Locke
American actress, born 1991
Alain LeRoy Locke
American philosopher and writer (1885–1954)
Kimberley Locke
American singer-songwriter, born 1978
Tembi Locke
American actress, born 1970
Eddie Locke
American musician (1930–2009)
John Locke
American keyboardist (1943–2006)
Attica Locke
American writer, born 1974
Katherine Locke
American actress (1910-1995)
Philip Locke
British actor (1928–2004)
Joe Locke
American musician, born 1959
Francis Locke
American politician (1776-1823)

Notable Lockes come mostly from the United States (11), Belarus (1) and the United Kingdom (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Locke

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

Other Norse surnames

All 126 Norse surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Locke come from?: * As an English, Dutch and German surname, variant of Lock. * As a Norwegian surname, Americanized from Løkke, from a farm name derived from Old Norse lykkja (“enclosure”). * As a Chinese surname, variant of Lok.
How common is the surname Locke?: 27,643 people in the United States had the surname Locke in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 11,169 Americans. It ranked 1,272nd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Locke?: In the 2010 Census, 81% of people named Locke identified as white (not Hispanic), and 12% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Locke?: Gary Locke, American politician, followed by Spencer Locke.
Where is the surname Locke most common?: Wikidata records people named Locke in the United States, Belarus and the United Kingdom.
How do you pronounce Locke?: Locke is /lɑk/, one syllable.
What type of surname is Locke?: Locke is a place surname, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.
Is the surname Locke getting more or less common?: More common. 26,516 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 27,643 in 2010, up 4.3%.