Explore the Family Name Dark

The meaning of Dark

English: nickname for someone with dark hair or a dull or wan complexion, from Middle English darke, Old English deorc ‘dark’. In England, the surname is most frequent in the West Country.

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

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

Based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname "Dark" has seen a decrease in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it ranked 10,294th but by 2010, it had dropped to 12,399th, marking a decline of 20.45%. Similarly, the count of people with this surname decreased from 2,868 in 2000 to 2,507 in 2010, which is a decrease of 12.59%. The proportion per 100,000 people also declined over this period, going from 1.06 to 0.85, a reduction of 19.81%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#10,294	#12,399	-20.45%
Count	2,868	2,507	-12.59%
Proportion per 100k	1.06	0.85	-19.81%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Dark

The ethnic identity associated with the surname "Dark" has also seen shifts according to the Decennial U.S. Census. The percentage of people identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander decreased significantly from 16.28% in 2000 to 11.57% in 2010. However, those identifying as two or more races saw a minor increase of 5.88%. White individuals represented the largest group within this surname, increasing slightly from 62.45% to 63.66%. Notably, there was a significant increase in the proportion of Hispanic individuals, growing from 1.81% to 2.95%. Black representation also increased from 17.78% to 20.02%, while the percentage of American Indian and Alaskan Native remained relatively stable, with a slight increase from 0.31% to 0.36%.

	2000	2010	Change
White	62.45%	63.66%	1.94%
Black	17.78%	20.02%	12.6%
Asian/Pacific Islander	16.28%	11.57%	-28.93%
Hispanic	1.81%	2.95%	62.98%
Two or More Races	1.36%	1.44%	5.88%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0.31%	0.36%	16.13%