Explore the Family Name Knapton

The meaning of Knapton

English (Yorkshire): habitational name from Knapton by York (Yorkshire) or Knapton near Malton (East Yorkshire). The placenames derive from the Old English personal name Cnapa or Old English cnapa ‘boy, young man, servant’ + tūn ‘farmstead, estate’.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Knapton has seen a decrease in popularity from 2000 to 2010. In 2000, Knapton ranked as the 31,848th most common name, but by 2010 it dropped to the 34,223rd spot, representing a 7.46% decrease. The count of individuals with the Knapton surname also declined marginally during this period - from 685 in 2000 to 663 in 2010, marking a 3.21% reduction. This trend is reflected in the proportion per 100,000 people, which went down by 12% from 0.25 to 0.22.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#31,848	#34,223	-7.46%
Count	685	663	-3.21%
Proportion per 100k	0.25	0.22	-12%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Knapton

The Decennial U.S. Census also provides insight into the ethnicity associated with the Knapton surname. In both 2000 and 2010, there were no reported instances of this surname among Asian/Pacific Islanders, Black, or American Indian and Alaskan Native groups. However, the data shows a significant increase in the percentage of people identifying as Two or more races going from 1.31% in 2000 to 2.71% in 2010, indicating a rise of over 106%. Meanwhile, the majority of Knaptons identify as White, although this percentage decreased slightly from 96.35% in 2000 to 94.57% in 2010. Lastly, those identifying as Hispanic fell marginally from 1.75% to 1.66%.

	2000	2010	Change
White	96.35%	94.57%	-1.85%
Two or More Races	1.31%	2.71%	106.87%
Hispanic	1.75%	1.66%	-5.14%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%