The surname West
A surname, carried by 195,818 people in the United States.
Pronounced /wɛst/ 1 syllable Soundex W230
Origin
* In most senses and as an English surname, by proprialization from west. * As a Finnish surname, Americanized from Vesterinen.
Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How common it is
2010 US Census
There were 195,818 people named West in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 1,577 Americans. That is up 3.9% since 2000, when the Census counted 188,464.
Who is named West
Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census
75% of people named West identified as white (not Hispanic), 18% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.5% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
- White (not Hispanic) 75%
- Black (not Hispanic) 18%
- Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.5%
- Two or more races 2.3%
- American Indian and Alaska Native 0.8%
- Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%
Famous Wests
66 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first
- Mae WestAmerican actress, singer, screenwriter, and writer (1893–1980)
- Jerry WestAmerican basketball player and executive (1938-2024)
- Dominic WestBritish actor, born 1969
- Billy WestAmerican voice actor, born 1950
- Shane WestAmerican actor, musician and songwriter, born 1978
- Gladys WestAmerican mathematician (1930–2026)
- Nathanael WestAmerican writer and screenwriter (1903–1940)
- Benjamin West18th- and 19th-century English painter (1738–1820)
- Morris WestAustralian writer (1916-1999)
- Cornel WestAmerican philosopher, political activist and writer (born 1953)
- Ti WestAmerican film director, screenwriter and film editor, born 1980
- Michelle Wie WestAmerican professional golfer, born 1989
Notable Wests come mostly from the United States (55), Australia (5) and the United Kingdom (4).
Spellings and sound-alikes
Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling
West has the Soundex code W230, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code W230.
Questions
- Where does the surname West come from?
- * In most senses and as an English surname, by proprialization from west. * As a Finnish surname, Americanized from Vesterinen.
- How common is the surname West?
- 195,818 people in the United States had the surname West in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 1,577 Americans. It ranked 125th of 162,253 surnames.
- What ethnicity is the surname West?
- In the 2010 Census, 75% of people named West identified as white (not Hispanic), and 18% as Black (not Hispanic).
- Who is the most famous person named West?
- Mae West, American actress, singer, screenwriter, and writer (1893–1980), followed by Jerry West.
- Where is the surname West most common?
- Wikidata records people named West in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom and 2 other countries.
- How do you pronounce West?
- West is /wɛst/, one syllable.
- Is the surname West getting more or less common?
- More common. 188,464 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 195,818 in 2010, up 3.9%.