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The surname Norfolk

An English occupational surname, carried by 949 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈnɔː(ɹ).fək/ 2 syllables Soundex N614

Norfolk: #25,902 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#1,000Archer#10,001Dubon Norfolk #25,902, 949 people Norfolk: #25,902 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#100Jimenez Norfolk #25,902, 949 people
Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Norfolk is more common than 84% of them.

Origin

English origin

From Middle English Northfolk, from Old English Norþfolc (literally “northern people”), from norþ (“north, northern”) + folc (“folk, people, race, nation”), equivalent to north + folk. As an Ecuadorian island, clipping of Duke of Norfolk's Island, bestowed by William Ambrosia Cowley in 1684 honor of Henry Howard, 6th Duke of Norfolk; his son Henry, the 7th duke; or both. As an Australian island and territory, bestowed by James Cook in 1774 in honor of Mary Howard, wife of the 9th duke.

Norfolk is an occupational surname: named after the work an ancestor did.

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 949 people named Norfolk in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 325,338 Americans. That is up 2.9% since 2000, when the Census counted 922.

#25,902
rank among US surnames
949
people in 2010
0.3
per 100,000 Americans
+2.9%
change since 2000 (was #25,221)

Who is named Norfolk

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

74% of people named Norfolk identified as white (not Hispanic), 20% as Black (not Hispanic) and 3.3% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

  • White (not Hispanic) 74%
  • Black (not Hispanic) 20%
  • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 3.3%
  • Two or more races 1.7%
The Census suppresses very small shares to protect privacy; Asian & Pacific Islander, Native American are not shown.

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Norfolk

Norfolk has the Soundex code N614, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code N614.

Other English surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Norfolk come from?
From Middle English Northfolk, from Old English Norþfolc (literally “northern people”), from norþ (“north, northern”) + folc (“folk, people, race, nation”), equivalent to north + folk. As an Ecuadorian island, clipping of Duke of Norfolk's Island, bestowed by William Ambrosia Cowley in 1684 honor…
How common is the surname Norfolk?
949 people in the United States had the surname Norfolk in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 325,338 Americans. It ranked 25,902nd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Norfolk?
In the 2010 Census, 74% of people named Norfolk identified as white (not Hispanic), and 20% as Black (not Hispanic).
How do you pronounce Norfolk?
Norfolk is /ˈnɔː(ɹ).fək/, 2 syllables.
What type of surname is Norfolk?
Norfolk is an occupational surname, named after the work an ancestor did.
Is the surname Norfolk getting more or less common?
More common. 922 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 949 in 2010, up 2.9%.