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Name Lineage

    The surname Rockefeller

    A German surname, carried by 1,299 people in the United States.

    4 syllables Soundex R214

    Rockefeller: #20,449 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#1,000Archer Rockefeller #20,449, 1,299 people Rockefeller: #20,449 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#100Jimenez Rockefeller #20,449, 1,299 people
    Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Rockefeller is more common than 87.4% of them.

    Origin

    German origin

    From the German place name Rockenfeld.

    One of 1,101 German surnames on this site.

    Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

    How common it is

    2010 US Census

    There were 1,299 people named Rockefeller in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 237,679 Americans. That is up 5.4% since 2000, when the Census counted 1,233.

    #20,449
    rank among US surnames
    1,299
    people in 2010
    0.4
    per 100,000 Americans
    +5.4%
    change since 2000 (was #20,111)
    RankSurnamePeople1 in
    #20,449Louk1,299237,679
    #20,458Rencher1,298237,863

    Who is named Rockefeller

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

    95% of people named Rockefeller identified as white (not Hispanic), 1.9% as Black (not Hispanic) and 1.5% as two or more races.

    • White (not Hispanic) 95%
    • Black (not Hispanic) 1.9%
    • Two or more races 1.5%
    • Asian and Pacific Islander 0.9%
    The Census suppresses very small shares to protect privacy; Hispanic, Native American are not shown.

    Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

    Famous Rockefellers

    11 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

    • John D. Rockefeller
      American industrialist and philanthropist (1839–1937)
    • David Rockefeller
      American banker and philanthropist (1915–2017)
    • John D. Rockefeller Jr.
      American financier and philanthropist (1874–1960)
    • Jay Rockefeller
      American politician (1937–2026)
    • Michael Rockefeller
      American anthropologist and art collector (1938–1961)
    • Laura Spelman Rockefeller
      American philanthropist, schoolteacher (1839-1915)
    • John D. Rockefeller III
      American philanthropist (1906–1978)
    • Laurance Rockefeller
      American businessman, conservationist, financier, philanthropist (1910-2004)
    • William Rockefeller
      American financier, businessman, and Standard Oil co-founder (1841-1922)
    • William Rockefeller Sr.
      American con artist, 1810–1906
    • Abigail Greene Aldrich
      American socialite and philanthropist (1874–1948)

    Other German surnames

    All 1,101 German surnames

    Questions

    Where does the surname Rockefeller come from?
    From the German place name Rockenfeld.
    How common is the surname Rockefeller?
    1,299 people in the United States had the surname Rockefeller in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 237,679 Americans. It ranked 20,449th of 162,253 surnames.
    What ethnicity is the surname Rockefeller?
    In the 2010 Census, 95% of people named Rockefeller identified as white (not Hispanic), and 1.9% as Black (not Hispanic).
    Who is the most famous person named Rockefeller?
    John D. Rockefeller, American industrialist and philanthropist (1839–1937), followed by David Rockefeller.
    Where is the surname Rockefeller most common?
    Wikidata records people named Rockefeller in the United States.
    Is the surname Rockefeller getting more or less common?
    More common. 1,233 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 1,299 in 2010, up 5.4%.