How common is the surname Washington?

177,386 people in the United States had the surname Washington in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 1,741 Americans. It ranked 145th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Washington?

Denzel Washington, American actor (born 1954), followed by Kerry Washington.

Where is the surname Washington most common?

Wikidata records people named Washington in the United States, the United Kingdom and British America and 3 other countries.

How do you pronounce Washington?

Washington is /ˈwɑʃɪŋtən/, 3 syllables.

Is the surname Washington getting more or less common?

More common. 163,036 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 177,386 in 2010, up 8.8%.

Is Washington also a first name?

Yes. Washington is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Washington

An English place surname, carried by 177,386 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈwɑʃɪŋtən/ 3 syllables Soundex W252 Also a first name

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Washington is more common than 99.9% of them.

Origin

English origin

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.

Washington is a place surname: taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.

One of 1,446 English surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 177,386 people named Washington in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 1,741 Americans. That is up 8.8% since 2000, when the Census counted 163,036.

#145

rank among US surnames

177,386

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+8.8%

change since 2000 (was #138)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#136	Murray	184,910	1,670
#137	Ford	184,832	1,670
#138	Castro	184,134	1,677
#139	Marshall	183,922	1,679
#140	Owens	182,719	1,690
#141	Harrison	181,091	1,705
#142	Fernandez	180,842	1,707

Who is named Washington

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

88% of people named Washington identified as Black (not Hispanic), 5.2% as white (not Hispanic) and 3.8% as two or more races.

Black (not Hispanic) 88%
White (not Hispanic) 5.2%
Two or more races 3.8%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.5%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.7%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.3%

Compare: most common surnames among Black Americans.

Famous Washingtons

47 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Denzel Washington
American actor (born 1954)
Kerry Washington
American actress, born 1977
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, born 1992
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, born 1981
Tyree Washington
American sprinter, born 1976

Notable Washingtons come mostly from the United States (40), the United Kingdom (2) and British America (2).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Washington

Wasinger

Washington has the Soundex code W252, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code W252.

Other English surnames

All 1,446 English surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Washington come from?: 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…
How common is the surname Washington?: 177,386 people in the United States had the surname Washington in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 1,741 Americans. It ranked 145th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Washington?: In the 2010 Census, 88% of people named Washington identified as Black (not Hispanic), and 5.2% as white (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Washington?: Denzel Washington, American actor (born 1954), followed by Kerry Washington.
Where is the surname Washington most common?: Wikidata records people named Washington in the United States, the United Kingdom and British America and 3 other countries.
How do you pronounce Washington?: Washington is /ˈwɑʃɪŋtən/, 3 syllables.
What type of surname is Washington?: Washington is a place surname, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.
Is the surname Washington getting more or less common?: More common. 163,036 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 177,386 in 2010, up 8.8%.
Is Washington also a first name?: Yes. Washington is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.