# Root (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/root/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

An English surname from Middle English from a byname from Middle English rote (“glad”).

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 20,284 |
| US rank (2010) | 1,770 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 15,221 people |
| Change since 2000 | +1.4% (20,001 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | Rouet, Rout, Roots, Roote, Rootes |

## Who carries it

Share of people named Root 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) | 94% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 0.6% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.3% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 1.1% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.8% |
| Two or more races | 1.6% |

## Similar surnames

Rood, Routt, Rote, Rott, Roth, Routh, Rothe, Reed, Reid, Read, Rudd, Ruth.

## 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.