How common is the surname Whittaker?

17,234 people in the United States had the surname Whittaker in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 17,915 Americans. It ranked 2,100th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Whittaker?

Robert Whittaker, American ecologist (1920–1980), followed by Robert Whittaker.

Where is the surname Whittaker most common?

Wikidata records people named Whittaker in the United States, New Zealand and the United Kingdom and 1 other country.

How do you pronounce Whittaker?

Whittaker is /ˈʍɪɾɪkɚ/, 3 syllables.

Is the surname Whittaker getting more or less common?

More common. 16,441 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 17,234 in 2010, up 4.8%.

The surname Whittaker

A surname, carried by 17,234 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈʍɪɾɪkɚ/ 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). Whittaker is more common than 98.7% of them.

Origin

A surname.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 17,234 people named Whittaker in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 17,915 Americans. That is up 4.8% since 2000, when the Census counted 16,441.

#2,100

rank among US surnames

17,234

people in 2010

5.8

per 100,000 Americans

+4.8%

change since 2000 (was #2,023)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#2,091	Stringer	17,300	17,847
#2,092	Whitt	17,293	17,854
#2,093	Eckert	17,269	17,879
#2,095	McGovern	17,257	17,891
#2,096	Boykin	17,255	17,893
#2,097	Saldivar	17,250	17,898
#2,098	Woodson	17,242	17,907

Who is named Whittaker

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

76% of people named Whittaker identified as white (not Hispanic), 18% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.9% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 76%
Black (not Hispanic) 18%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.9%
Two or more races 2.1%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.6%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.5%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Whittakers

9 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Robert Whittaker
American ecologist (1920–1980)
Robert Whittaker
Australian mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, born 1990
Benjamin Whittaker
Boxer, born 1997
Meredith Whittaker
American artificial intelligence research scientist, born 2000
Joseph Whittaker
British botanist, collected in Australia in 1839-40
Isabella Whittaker
American athlete (born 2002)
Charles Evans Whittaker
American judge (1901-1973)
Juliette Whittaker
American middle-distance runner (born 2003)
Tampa Red
American Chicago blues musician (1904-1981)

Notable Whittakers come mostly from the United States (6), New Zealand (1) and the United Kingdom (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Whittaker

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

Questions

How common is the surname Whittaker?: 17,234 people in the United States had the surname Whittaker in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 17,915 Americans. It ranked 2,100th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Whittaker?: In the 2010 Census, 76% of people named Whittaker identified as white (not Hispanic), and 18% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Whittaker?: Robert Whittaker, American ecologist (1920–1980), followed by Robert Whittaker.
Where is the surname Whittaker most common?: Wikidata records people named Whittaker in the United States, New Zealand and the United Kingdom and 1 other country.
How do you pronounce Whittaker?: Whittaker is /ˈʍɪɾɪkɚ/, 3 syllables.
Is the surname Whittaker getting more or less common?: More common. 16,441 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 17,234 in 2010, up 4.8%.