How common is the surname Waite?

18,664 people in the United States had the surname Waite in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 16,542 Americans. It ranked 1,936th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Waite?

Ralph Waite, American actor (1928–2014), followed by Morrison Waite.

Where is the surname Waite most common?

Wikidata records people named Waite in the United States and Australia.

Is the surname Waite getting more or less common?

More common. 17,415 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 18,664 in 2010, up 7.2%.

The surname Waite

An occupational surname, carried by 18,664 people in the United States.

1 syllable Soundex W300

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Waite is more common than 98.8% of them.

Origin

English surname for a watchman of Norman origin, from the verb wait. Sometimes confused with White or Wheat.

Waite is an occupational surname: named after the work an ancestor did.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 18,664 people named Waite in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 16,542 Americans. That is up 7.2% since 2000, when the Census counted 17,415.

#1,936

rank among US surnames

18,664

people in 2010

6.3

per 100,000 Americans

+7.2%

change since 2000 (was #1,892)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#1,927	Adair	18,708	16,503
#1,928	Gold	18,698	16,512
#1,929	Laird	18,696	16,514
#1,930	Lacey	18,691	16,518
#1,931	Christie	18,681	16,527
#1,932	Pack	18,678	16,530
#1,933	Vidal	18,677	16,531

Who is named Waite

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

86% of people named Waite identified as white (not Hispanic), 8.4% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.4% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 86%
Black (not Hispanic) 8.4%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.4%
Two or more races 1.8%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.7%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.6%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Waites

5 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Ralph Waite
American actor (1928–2014)
Morrison Waite
American jurist (1816–1888); Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1874 to
Malcolm Waite
American actor (1892-1949)
Davis Hanson Waite
American politician (1825-1901)
Edgar Ravenswood Waite
Australian ichthyologist (1866-1928)

Notable Waites come mostly from the United States (4) and Australia (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Waight
Waitt

Surnames that sound like Waite

Waite has the Soundex code W300, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code W300.

Questions

Where does the surname Waite come from?: English surname for a watchman of Norman origin, from the verb wait. Sometimes confused with White or Wheat.
How common is the surname Waite?: 18,664 people in the United States had the surname Waite in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 16,542 Americans. It ranked 1,936th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Waite?: In the 2010 Census, 86% of people named Waite identified as white (not Hispanic), and 8.4% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Waite?: Ralph Waite, American actor (1928–2014), followed by Morrison Waite.
Where is the surname Waite most common?: Wikidata records people named Waite in the United States and Australia.
What type of surname is Waite?: Waite is an occupational surname, named after the work an ancestor did.
Is the surname Waite getting more or less common?: More common. 17,415 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 18,664 in 2010, up 7.2%.
What are other spellings of Waite?: Waight and Waitt.