Skip to content

The surname Waters

A patronymic surname, carried by 67,929 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈwɔtɚz/ 2 syllables Soundex W362

Waters: #491 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#10,001Dubon Waters #491, 67,929 people Waters: #491 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott Waters #491, 67,929 people
Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Waters is more common than 99.7% of them.

Origin

From the given name Walter + the patronymic suffix -s.

Waters is a patronymic surname: formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 67,929 people named Waters in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 4,545 Americans. That is up 3.2% since 2000, when the Census counted 65,817.

#491
rank among US surnames
67,929
people in 2010
23
per 100,000 Americans
+3.2%
change since 2000 (was #455)
RankSurnamePeople1 in
#482Hampton69,4724,444
#483Townsend69,3604,451
#484Ingram69,3454,452
#485Wise68,6494,497
#486Gallegos68,3734,516
#487Clarke68,2814,522
#488Barton68,2334,525

Who is named Waters

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

73% of people named Waters identified as white (not Hispanic), 21% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.4% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

  • White (not Hispanic) 73%
  • Black (not Hispanic) 21%
  • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.4%
  • Two or more races 2.1%
  • American Indian and Alaska Native 0.8%
  • Asian and Pacific Islander 0.6%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Waterss

17 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

  • John Waters
    American filmmaker, actor, comedian and writer (born 1946)
  • Ethel Waters
    American blues, jazz and gospel vocalist and actress (1896-1977)
  • Crystal Waters
    American singer-songwriter, born 1961
  • Mark Waters
    American film director, born 1964
  • Alice Waters
    American chef, activist, and author, born 1944
  • John Waters
    Australian actor, born 1948
  • Anthony Waters
    Australian field hockey player, 1928–1987
  • Dominic Waters
    American basketball player (born 1986)
  • Lindy Waters III
    American basketball player (born 1997)
  • John Waters
    American film director (1893-1965)
  • Hydie Waters
    American pornographic actress, born 1987
  • Harry Waters, Jr.
    American actor, born 1953

Notable Waterss come mostly from the United States (13), Australia (2) and Canada (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Waters

Waters has the Soundex code W362, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code W362.

Questions

Where does the surname Waters come from?
From the given name Walter + the patronymic suffix -s.
How common is the surname Waters?
67,929 people in the United States had the surname Waters in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 4,545 Americans. It ranked 491st of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Waters?
In the 2010 Census, 73% of people named Waters identified as white (not Hispanic), and 21% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Waters?
John Waters, American filmmaker, actor, comedian and writer (born 1946), followed by Ethel Waters.
Where is the surname Waters most common?
Wikidata records people named Waters in the United States, Australia and Canada and 1 other country.
How do you pronounce Waters?
Waters is /ˈwɔtɚz/, 2 syllables.
What type of surname is Waters?
Waters is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
Is the surname Waters getting more or less common?
More common. 65,817 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 67,929 in 2010, up 3.2%.