2000
#8,038
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,805
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.41
Rare Last name
Flake
An English nickname for a person with a flaky, flighty, or eccentric character.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 4,461 Americans carry the last name Flake. That puts it at #8,147 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.30 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 76,834 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Flake 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
4.5K
1 in 76,834
Census rank
#8,147
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.3
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
3.9K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 3,890 bearers of the surname Flake in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.30 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 8147th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Flake, the largest self-reported group is White at 81.6%. The next largest groups are Black (11.4%) and Two or More Races (3.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Flake
The surname Flake is an English name that originated in the county of Lancashire during the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old English word "flacca," which means a spot or patch of land. This suggests that the name may have been originally borne by someone who lived near a distinctive or unusual area of land.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name appears in the 1332 Subsidy Rolls of Lancashire, where a Roger del Flake is mentioned. This spelling, "del Flake," indicates that the name was originally a locational surname, referring to someone from a specific place.
In the 14th century, the name is also found in the records of the nearby county of Yorkshire. The 1379 Poll Tax Returns of Yorkshire list a John Flake, suggesting that the name had spread to other parts of northern England by this time.
During the 16th century, the surname Flake began to appear in various spellings, such as Flake, Flayke, and Fleyke. This was a common occurrence due to the lack of standardized spelling rules in those times.
One notable bearer of the name was William Flake, a merchant and alderman of the city of York, who lived from 1520 to 1592. He was a prominent figure in the city's trade guilds and served as the Lord Mayor of York in 1585.
In the 17th century, the Flake surname is found in the parish records of several Lancashire villages, including Chorley and Leyland. A John Flake, born in 1635 in Chorley, is recorded as having served as a soldier in the English Civil War.
Another historical figure with this surname was Thomas Flake, a Quaker minister who lived from 1667 to 1739. He was born in Lancashire and became a prominent preacher, traveling throughout England and America to spread his religious beliefs.
During the 18th century, the Flake name continued to be present in Lancashire and Yorkshire. Records show that a Robert Flake, born in 1712 in Leyland, was a successful farmer and landowner in the area.
In the 19th century, the Flake surname began to appear more widely across England, as well as in other parts of the world due to emigration. One notable individual was William Flake, an English artist born in 1823, who was renowned for his landscape paintings of the countryside around Lancashire and Yorkshire.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Flake
Among Census respondents with the surname Flake, the largest self-reported group is White at 81.6%. The next largest groups are Black (11.4%) and Two or More Races (3.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Flake 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 Flake surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.6% · 3,175
- Black or African American11.4% · 445
- Two or more races3.2% · 126
- Hispanic or Latino2.0% · 77
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 52
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 15
Timeline
Historical Census data for Flake
Flake 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
#7,676
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,326
+521 bearers (+13.7%)
Per 100,000 1.47
Rank movement Up 362 places
2020
#8,147
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,890
-436 bearers (-10.1%)
Per 100,000 1.30
Rank movement Down 471 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #8,038 | 3,805 | 1.41 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #7,676 | 4,326 | 1.47 | +521 bearers (+13.7%) | Up 362 places |
| 2020 | #8,147 | 3,890 | 1.30 | -436 bearers (-10.1%) | Down 471 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 Flake 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 | #7,676 | #8,147 | -6.1% |
| Count | 4,326 | 3,890 | -10.1% |
| Per 100K | 1.47 | 1.30 | -11.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Flake bearers went from 4,326 to 3,890 (-10.1% change). The surname moved down 471 positions in the national ranking, going from #7,676 to #8,147.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Flake
FAQ
Flake surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Flake?
Name Census estimates that about 4,461 living Americans carry the surname Flake. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 76,834 residents.
How common is Flake?
Flake ranks #8,147 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.30 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 3,890 people with the surname Flake. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (4,461), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.3 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.30 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Flake.
Has Flake become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Flake went from 4,326 recorded bearers to 3,890. That is a decrease of 436 (-10.1%). In the national ranking it fell from #7,676 to #8,147.
What does the Census say about the background of Flake?
Among Census respondents with the surname Flake, the largest self-reported group is White at 81.6%. The next largest groups are Black (11.4%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Flake in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.6% (3,175 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Flake appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (81.6%), Black (11.4%), Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Flake (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 Flake mean?
An English nickname for a person with a flaky, flighty, or eccentric character. 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 Flake (1.30 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 Flake?
Find out how common the surname Flake is on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.