# Wake (surname)

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

A surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Norse |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 2,739 |
| US rank (2010) | 11,488 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 112,722 people |
| Change since 2000 | +13% (2,430 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈweɪk/, 1 syllable |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

English and Scottish surname from Old Norse vakr (“vigilant, wakeful”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Wake 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) | 77% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 15% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.1% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 3.3% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.7% |
| Two or more races | 2.3% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Wake in the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United States.

## People named Wake

- William Wake, Archbishop of Canterbury (1657-1737)
- Cameron Wake, American football defensive lineman, linebacker

## Similar surnames

Wike, Wasko, Wyke, Wise, Weiss, Weeks, Waugh, Weis, Wicks, Wiese, Wick, Wyche.

## 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.