How common is the surname Rankin?

28,821 people in the United States had the surname Rankin in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 10,713 Americans. It ranked 1,229th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Rankin?

Jeannette Rankin, American congresswoman for Montana (1880-1973), followed by Kevin Rankin.

Where is the surname Rankin most common?

Wikidata records people named Rankin in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Is the surname Rankin getting more or less common?

More common. 27,989 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 28,821 in 2010, up 3.0%.

The surname Rankin

A surname, carried by 28,821 people in the United States.

2 syllables Soundex R525

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

Origin

A Scottish and Northern Irish surname, from a diminutive of the name Ronald.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 28,821 people named Rankin in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 10,713 Americans. That is up 3.0% since 2000, when the Census counted 27,989.

#1,229

rank among US surnames

28,821

people in 2010

9.8

per 100,000 Americans

+3%

change since 2000 (was #1,148)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#1,220	O'Neil	28,949	10,665
#1,221	Tyson	28,947	10,666
#1,222	Bui	28,919	10,676
#1,223	Hilton	28,918	10,677
#1,224	Caballero	28,903	10,682
#1,225	Downing	28,880	10,691
#1,226	Sharpe	28,879	10,691

Who is named Rankin

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

78% of people named Rankin identified as white (not Hispanic), 16% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.6% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 78%
Black (not Hispanic) 16%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.6%
Two or more races 2.1%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.5%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Rankins

8 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Jeannette Rankin
American congresswoman for Montana (1880-1973)
Kevin Rankin
American actor, born 1976
Chris Rankin
British actor, born 1983
Arthur Rankin Jr.
American director, writer and producer (1924–2014)
Kenny Rankin
American singer-songwriter (1940-2009)
Doris Rankin
American actress (1888-1946)
Arthur Rankin
American actor (1895-1947)
Robert Rankin
British author, born 1949

Notable Rankins come mostly from the United States (6) and the United Kingdom (2).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Rankin

Rankin has the Soundex code R525, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code R525.

Questions

How common is the surname Rankin?: 28,821 people in the United States had the surname Rankin in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 10,713 Americans. It ranked 1,229th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Rankin?: In the 2010 Census, 78% of people named Rankin identified as white (not Hispanic), and 16% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Rankin?: Jeannette Rankin, American congresswoman for Montana (1880-1973), followed by Kevin Rankin.
Where is the surname Rankin most common?: Wikidata records people named Rankin in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Is the surname Rankin getting more or less common?: More common. 27,989 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 28,821 in 2010, up 3.0%.