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    The surnameWalker

    An occupational surname, the 31st most common in the United States.

    Pronounced /ˈwɔːkɚ/ 2 syllables Soundex W426 Also a first name

    Walker: #31 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#1,000Archer#10,001Dubon Walker #31, 523,129 people Walker: #31 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#1,000Archer Walker #31, 523,129 people
    Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Walker is more common than 99.9% of them.

    Origin

    A northern English surname originating as an occupation from the occupation of treating cloth by "walking" it.

    Walker 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 523,129 people named Walker in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 590 Americans. That is up 4.4% since 2000, when the Census counted 501,307.

    #31
    rank among US surnames
    523,129
    people in 2010
    177
    per 100,000 Americans
    +4.4%
    change since 2000 (was #28)
    RankSurnamePeople1 in
    #22Perez681,645453
    #23Thompson664,644465
    #24White660,491467
    #25Harris624,252495
    #26Sánchez612,752504
    #27Clark562,679549
    #28Ramirez557,423554

    Who is named Walker

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

    59% of people named Walker identified as white (not Hispanic), 35% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.5% as two or more races.

    • White (not Hispanic) 59%
    • Black (not Hispanic) 35%
    • Two or more races 2.5%
    • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.4%
    • American Indian and Alaska Native 0.9%
    • Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%

    Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

    Famous Walkers

    152 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

    • Paul Walker
      American actor (1973–2013)
    • Alice Walker
      American author and activist (born 1944)
    • John E. Walker
      British biochemist (born 1941)
    • Madam C. J. Walker
      American entrepreneur (1867-1919)
    • Scott Walker
      45th Governor of Wisconsin, born 1967
    • Rebecca Walker
      American writer, born 1969
    • Mary Edwards Walker
      American feminist and doctor (1832–1919)
    • William Walker
      American filibuster, physician, lawyer, journalist and mercenary (1824-1860)
    • Shannon Walker
      American scientist and NASA astronaut, born 1965
    • Robert Walker
      American actor (1918-1951)
    • Scott Walker
      British-American singer-songwriter, composer and record producer (1943–2019)
    • T-Bone Walker
      American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, 1910–1975

    Notable Walkers come mostly from the United States (126), the United Kingdom (13) and Australia (7).

    Spellings and sound-alikes

    Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

    Surnames that sound like Walker

    Walker has the Soundex code W426, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code W426.

    Questions

    How common is the surname Walker?
    523,129 people in the United States had the surname Walker in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 590 Americans. It ranked 31st of 162,253 surnames.
    What ethnicity is the surname Walker?
    In the 2010 Census, 59% of people named Walker identified as white (not Hispanic), and 35% as Black (not Hispanic).
    Who is the most famous person named Walker?
    Paul Walker, American actor (1973–2013), followed by Alice Walker.