How common is the surname Whitaker?

56,616 people in the United States had the surname Whitaker in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 5,453 Americans. It ranked 596th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Whitaker?

Forest Whitaker, American actor, followed by Pernell Whitaker.

Where is the surname Whitaker most common?

Wikidata records people named Whitaker in the United States, the United Kingdom and Brazil.

How do you pronounce Whitaker?

Whitaker is /ˈwɪ.tə.kəɹ/, 3 syllables.

Is the surname Whitaker getting more or less common?

More common. 54,343 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 56,616 in 2010, up 4.2%.

The surname Whitaker

An English surname, carried by 56,616 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈwɪ.tə.kəɹ/ 3 syllables Soundex W326

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Whitaker is more common than 99.6% of them.

Origin

English origin

From Old English *Hwītæcer (literally “white-acre”).

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 56,616 people named Whitaker in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 5,453 Americans. That is up 4.2% since 2000, when the Census counted 54,343.

#596

rank among US surnames

56,616

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+4.2%

change since 2000 (was #558)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#587	Weiss	57,112	5,406
#588	Underwood	57,064	5,411
#589	Bass	57,044	5,412
#590	Greer	57,043	5,413
#591	Summers	56,953	5,421
#592	Houston	56,900	5,426
#593	Carson	56,872	5,429

Who is named Whitaker

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

71% of people named Whitaker identified as white (not Hispanic), 24% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.0% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 71%
Black (not Hispanic) 24%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.0%
Two or more races 2.0%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.5%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Whitakers

14 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Forest Whitaker
American actor, born 1961
Pernell Whitaker
American boxer (1964–2019)
Denzel Whitaker
American actor, born 1990
Johnny Whitaker
American actor, born 1959
Matthew Whitaker
American lawyer and politician, born 1969
John Whitaker
British equestrian, born 1955
Duane Whitaker
American actor, born 1959
Michael Whitaker
British equestrian, born 1960
Nick Whitaker
American actor (1988-)
Slim Whitaker
Actor (1893-1960)
Chico Whitaker
Brazilian architect, politician and activist, born 1931
Ewen Whitaker
British astronomer, 1922–2016

Notable Whitakers come mostly from the United States (11), the United Kingdom (2) and Brazil (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Whitaker

Whitaker has the Soundex code W326, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code W326.

Other English surnames

All 1,446 English surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Whitaker come from?: From Old English *Hwītæcer (literally “white-acre”).
How common is the surname Whitaker?: 56,616 people in the United States had the surname Whitaker in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 5,453 Americans. It ranked 596th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Whitaker?: In the 2010 Census, 71% of people named Whitaker identified as white (not Hispanic), and 24% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Whitaker?: Forest Whitaker, American actor, followed by Pernell Whitaker.
Where is the surname Whitaker most common?: Wikidata records people named Whitaker in the United States, the United Kingdom and Brazil.
How do you pronounce Whitaker?: Whitaker is /ˈwɪ.tə.kəɹ/, 3 syllables.
Is the surname Whitaker getting more or less common?: More common. 54,343 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 56,616 in 2010, up 4.2%.