2000
#26,876
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 850
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.32
Very Rare Last name
Arkin
A habitational surname derived from a placename referring to someone from Arkin.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 945 Americans carry the last name Arkin. That puts it at #30,365 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.28 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 362,703 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Arkin surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
945
1 in 362,703
Census rank
#30,365
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.3
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
824
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 824 bearers of the surname Arkin in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.28 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 30365th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Arkin, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.1%) and Two or More Races (2.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Arkin
The surname Arkin has its origins traced back to the ancient Khazarian empire of the 8th-10th centuries AD, centered in what is now modern-day Ukraine and southern Russia. The name is believed to be derived from the Turkic word "arkan", meaning "rope" or "lasso", suggesting a possible occupation or skill related to the use of ropes or lassos among the early bearers of the name.
One of the earliest documented instances of the name Arkin can be found in the Novgorod Codex, a collection of birch-bark manuscripts from medieval Novgorod, dating back to the 11th century. In these manuscripts, the name appears as "Аркин", which was likely a transliteration from the original Turkic form.
During the 13th century, as the Mongol Empire expanded westward, many Turkic populations, including those bearing the name Arkin, migrated further into Eastern Europe and the Balkans. Records from this period show variations of the name, such as "Arkin" and "Arkyn", appearing in various regions of modern-day Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus.
In the 16th century, a notable figure named Ivan Arkin (c. 1520-1585) was a prominent merchant and landowner in the city of Novgorod. His descendants continued to use the surname, and it became more widely dispersed throughout the Russian Empire.
Another notable bearer of the name was Pyotr Arkin (1788-1865), a Russian military engineer and general who served in the Napoleonic Wars and played a significant role in the defense of St. Petersburg during the Crimean War.
In the late 19th century, a branch of the Arkin family migrated to the United States, where the name was anglicized to its current spelling. One of the earliest recorded Arkins in America was Alexander Arkin (1832-1901), a Russian immigrant who settled in New York City and established a successful import-export business.
Other notable individuals with the surname Arkin throughout history include:
1. Nikolai Arkin (1876-1942), a Russian artist and member of the avant-garde movement.
2. Walter Arkin (1920-2013), an American physicist and pioneer in the field of nuclear weapons effects.
3. Alan Arkin (born 1934), an American actor, director, and screenwriter known for films such as "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter" and "Little Miss Sunshine".
4. Yuri Arkin (born 1945), a Russian chess Grandmaster and author of several chess books.
5. Adam Arkin (born 1956), an American actor and director, best known for his roles in television series like "Chicago Hope" and "8 Simple Rules".
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Arkin
Among Census respondents with the surname Arkin, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.1%) and Two or More Races (2.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Arkin bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Arkin surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.4% · 745
- Hispanic or Latino5.1% · 42
- Two or more races2.4% · 20
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 13
- Black or African American0.5% · 4
Timeline
Historical Census data for Arkin
Arkin appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#28,215
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 848
-2 bearers (-0.2%)
Per 100,000 0.29
Rank movement Down 1,339 places
2020
#30,365
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 824
-24 bearers (-2.8%)
Per 100,000 0.28
Rank movement Down 2,150 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #26,876 | 850 | 0.32 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #28,215 | 848 | 0.29 | -2 bearers (-0.2%) | Down 1,339 places |
| 2020 | #30,365 | 824 | 0.28 | -24 bearers (-2.8%) | Down 2,150 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Arkin surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #28,215 | #30,365 | -7.6% |
| Count | 848 | 824 | -2.8% |
| Per 100K | 0.29 | 0.28 | -4.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Arkin bearers went from 848 to 824 (-2.8% change). The surname moved down 2,150 positions in the national ranking, going from #28,215 to #30,365.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Arkin
FAQ
Arkin surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Arkin?
Name Census estimates that about 945 living Americans carry the surname Arkin. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 362,703 residents.
How common is Arkin?
Arkin ranks #30,365 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.28 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 824 people with the surname Arkin. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (945), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.28 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.28 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Arkin.
Has Arkin become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Arkin went from 848 recorded bearers to 824. That is a decrease of 24 (-2.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #28,215 to #30,365.
What does the Census say about the background of Arkin?
Among Census respondents with the surname Arkin, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.1%) and Two or More Races (2.4%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Arkin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.4% (745 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Arkin appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (90.4%), Hispanic (5.1%), Two or More Races (2.4%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Arkin (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Arkin mean?
A habitational surname derived from a placename referring to someone from Arkin. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Arkin (0.28 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How common is the surname Arkin?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how common the surname Arkin is at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.