How common is the surname Pinkerton?

8,446 people in the United States had the surname Pinkerton in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 36,555 Americans. It ranked 4,195th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Pinkerton?

John Pinkerton, British antiquarian (1758-1826).

Where is the surname Pinkerton most common?

Wikidata records people named Pinkerton in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

How do you pronounce Pinkerton?

Pinkerton is /ˈpɪŋkɚtən/, 3 syllables.

Is the surname Pinkerton getting more or less common?

More common. 8,164 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 8,446 in 2010, up 3.5%.

The surname Pinkerton

An English place surname, carried by 8,446 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈpɪŋkɚtən/ 3 syllables Soundex P526

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Pinkerton is more common than 97.4% of them.

Origin

English origin

Habitational surname from a place near Dunbar, from an unexplained first element + Old English tūn (“enclosure”). This surname is well established in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Pinkerton 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 8,446 people named Pinkerton in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 36,555 Americans. That is up 3.5% since 2000, when the Census counted 8,164.

#4,195

rank among US surnames

8,446

people in 2010

2.9

per 100,000 Americans

+3.5%

change since 2000 (was #3,993)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#4,186	Pagano	8,465	36,473
#4,187	Riddick	8,464	36,477
#4,188	Gillen	8,462	36,486
#4,189	Kersey	8,459	36,499
#4,190	Gorham	8,458	36,503
#4,191	Cai	8,457	36,508
#4,192	Griego	8,456	36,512

Who is named Pinkerton

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

91% of people named Pinkerton identified as white (not Hispanic), 3.4% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.0% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 91%
Black (not Hispanic) 3.4%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.0%
Two or more races 1.8%
American Indian and Alaska Native 1.0%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.8%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Pinkertons

1 notable person on Wikidata, most written-about first

John Pinkerton
British antiquarian (1758-1826)

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Pinkerton

Pinkerton has the Soundex code P526, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code P526.

Other English surnames

All 1,446 English surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Pinkerton come from?: Habitational surname from a place near Dunbar, from an unexplained first element + Old English tūn (“enclosure”). This surname is well established in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
How common is the surname Pinkerton?: 8,446 people in the United States had the surname Pinkerton in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 36,555 Americans. It ranked 4,195th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Pinkerton?: In the 2010 Census, 91% of people named Pinkerton identified as white (not Hispanic), and 3.4% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Pinkerton?: John Pinkerton, British antiquarian (1758-1826).
Where is the surname Pinkerton most common?: Wikidata records people named Pinkerton in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
How do you pronounce Pinkerton?: Pinkerton is /ˈpɪŋkɚtən/, 3 syllables.
What type of surname is Pinkerton?: Pinkerton is a place surname, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.
Is the surname Pinkerton getting more or less common?: More common. 8,164 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 8,446 in 2010, up 3.5%.