Explore the Family Name Birkbeck

The meaning of Birkbeck

1. English (northern): habitational name from Birkbeck Fells in Orton, Westmorland, named after the river on which it stands. The river name is derived from Old Norse birki ‘birch’ + bekkr ‘stream’. 2. Americanized form of Danish Birkebæk, which have the same origin as the English river name (see 1 above).

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Birkbeck in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Birkbeck has seen some changes in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it was ranked 52,935th in popularity, but by 2010, it had slipped to 54,864th, a decrease of 3.64%. The actual count of individuals with this surname increased slightly from 367 in 2000 to 375 in 2010, a growth of 2.18%. However, when considering proportion per 100K people, there was a decline from 0.14 in 2000 to 0.13 in 2010, signifying a drop of 7.14%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#52,935	#54,864	-3.64%
Count	367	375	2.18%
Proportion per 100k	0.14	0.13	-7.14%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Birkbeck

The ethnicity associated with the surname Birkbeck also showed variability in the same period, according to the Decennial U.S. Census data. In 2000 there were no reported instances of individuals with this surname identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander, Two or more races, Hispanic, or American Indian and Alaskan Native. However, by 2010, 1.33% identified as belonging to two or more races, and 4.00% as Hispanic. Those identifying as white made up the majority, at 95.91% in 2000 and 90.67% in 2010. This means there was a decrease of 5.46% in this category. Black individuals with this surname saw an increase from 2.45% in 2000 to 3.47% in 2010, marking a significant rise of 41.63%.

	2000	2010	Change
White	95.91%	90.67%	-5.46%
Hispanic	0%	4%	0%
Black	2.45%	3.47%	41.63%
Two or More Races	0%	1.33%	0%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%