# West (surname)

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

A surname from Middle English for a newcomer from the west, or someone who lived to the west of a village.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 195,818 |
| US rank (2010) | 125 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 1,577 people |
| Change since 2000 | +3.9% (188,464 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /wɛst/, 1 syllable |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

* In most senses and as an English surname, by proprialization from west. * As a Finnish surname, Americanized from Vesterinen.

## Who carries it

Share of people named West 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) | 75% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 18% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.5% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.5% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.8% |
| Two or more races | 2.3% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named West in the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, Africa and Belize.

## People named West

- Mae West, American actress, singer, screenwriter, and writer (1893–1980)
- Jerry West, American basketball player and executive (1938-2024)
- Dominic West, British actor
- Billy West, American voice actor
- Shane West, American actor, musician and songwriter
- Gladys West, American mathematician (1930–2026)
- Nathanael West, American writer and screenwriter (1903–1940)
- Benjamin West, 18th- and 19th-century English painter (1738–1820)
- Morris West, Australian writer (1916-1999)
- Cornel West, American philosopher, political activist and writer (born 1953)
- Ti West, American film director, screenwriter and film editor
- Michelle Wie West, American professional golfer

and 54 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Wiest, Weist, Wuest, Wescott, Wight, Weight.

## 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.