# Washington (surname)

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

An English habitational surname from Old English.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | English |
| Type | place, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 177,386 |
| US rank (2010) | 145 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 1,741 people |
| Change since 2000 | +8.8% (163,036 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈwɑʃɪŋtən/, 3 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

Washington (the town in Tyne and Wear, northeast England): probably from the Old English place name Hwæssingatūn (literally “a settlement of the household of *Hwæssa”), from *Hwæssa (a Saxon chieftain's name) + -ing (“belonging to”) + tūn (“homestead, settlement”). It was attested in 1096 as Wasindone. *Hwæssa is of uncertain origin, said to possibly correspond to waþ (“hunt”) + sige (“victory”), or possibly related to hwæte (“wheat”). There are other theories; more on Wikipedia. The surname derives from the town, and most places in the United States are named for George Washington.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Washington 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) | 5.2% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 88% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.5% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.3% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.7% |
| Two or more races | 3.8% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Washington in the United States, the United Kingdom, British America, Australia, Spain and Liberia.

## People named Washington

- Denzel Washington, American actor (born 1954)
- Kerry Washington, American actress
- Booker T. Washington, African-American educator, author, orator, and advisor (1856-1915)
- John David Washington, American football player and actor (born 1984)
- Isaiah Washington, American actor (born 1963)
- Conor Washington, association football player
- Grover Washington Jr., American jazz saxophonist (1943–1999)
- Augustine Washington, (1694-1743) British-American planter, slave owner, and the father of George Washington
- George Washington, American inventor and businessman of Anglo-Belgian origin (1871–1946)
- P. J. Washington, American basketball player (born 1998)
- Kamasi Washington, American saxophonist and bandleader
- Tyree Washington, American sprinter

and 35 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Wasinger, Wiggins, Wisniewski, Wozniak, Wysong, Wisneski, Wigington, Weisinger, Weissinger.

## 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.