# Poindexter (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/poindexter/  
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 Jersey Norman.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 11,531 |
| US rank (2010) | 3,129 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 26,775 people |
| Change since 2000 | +2.9% (11,201 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈpɔɪnˌdɛkstɚ/, 3 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From Jersey Norman Poingdestre (literally “right fist”). The sense “bookish or socially unskilled person” is from the character of the same name in the 1959 animated television series Felix the Cat, which is a revival of the original Felix the Cat animated films from 1919 to 1936. Its first use appears c. 1981 in the publication University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill Slang.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Poindexter 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) | 51% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 42% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.1% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.4% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.9% |
| Two or more races | 3.4% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Poindexter in the United States.

## People named Poindexter

- Alan G. Poindexter, American test pilot and astronaut (1961-2012)
- Larry Poindexter, American actor
- George Poindexter, American politician (1779-1853)
- Miles Poindexter, American politician (1868–1946)

## Similar surnames

Pantoja, Puentes, Pounds, Pentecost, Pontius, Pentz, Ponds, Pontious, Pontes, Piontek, Poundstone.

## 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.