2000
#428
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 68,868
First available Census row
Per 100,000 25.53
Uncommon Last name
Hodges
From a place name meaning "enclosed fields" in Old English, or referring to someone living near such fields.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 77,243 Americans carry the last name Hodges. That puts it at #486 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 22.54 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 4,437 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Hodges 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.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Hodges with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
77K
1 in 4,437
Census rank
#486
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
22.5
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
67K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 67,360 bearers of the surname Hodges in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 22.54 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 486th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Hodges, the largest self-reported group is White at 70.6%. The next largest groups are Black (20.3%) and Two or More Races (4.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Hodges
The surname Hodges has English origins and can be traced back to the medieval period. It is a topographic name derived from the Old English word "hoccer", meaning someone who lived near a small hill or ridge.
The name was first found in the counties of Somerset, Devon, and Dorset in the south-west of England. It is believed to have been adopted as a hereditary surname in the 11th or 12th century, following the Norman Conquest of England in 1066.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name appears in the Domesday Book of 1086, which mentions a landowner named Richard Hodges in the county of Somerset. Other early references include Willelmus Hodges, mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Worcestershire in 1195, and Robert le Hodges, listed in the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire in 1273.
The surname has various spellings throughout history, including Hodge, Hodges, Hodgis, and Hoggis. It is also linked to some place names, such as Hodges Green in Hertfordshire and Hodges Farm in Gloucestershire.
Notable historical figures with the surname Hodges include Sir William Hodges (1744-1797), an English painter and explorer who accompanied Captain Cook on his second voyage to the Pacific. Another prominent bearer was Nathaniel Hodges (1629-1688), an English physician and writer who published works on medical subjects.
Other individuals of note include James Hodges (1786-1859), an English landscape painter, and Walter Hodges (1798-1882), an English author and clergyman. In more recent times, Sir Alastair Hodges (1920-1995) was a British diplomat and ambassador to several countries, including the United States and France.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hodges
Among Census respondents with the surname Hodges, the largest self-reported group is White at 70.6%. The next largest groups are Black (20.3%) and Two or More Races (4.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Hodges 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 Hodges surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White70.6% · 47,581
- Black or African American20.3% · 13,661
- Two or more races4.4% · 2,970
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 2,384
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 424
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 340
Timeline
Historical Census data for Hodges
Hodges 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
#471
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 70,223
+1,355 bearers (+2.0%)
Per 100,000 23.81
Rank movement Down 43 places
2020
#486
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 67,360
-2,863 bearers (-4.1%)
Per 100,000 22.54
Rank movement Down 15 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #428 | 68,868 | 25.53 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #471 | 70,223 | 23.81 | +1,355 bearers (+2.0%) | Down 43 places |
| 2020 | #486 | 67,360 | 22.54 | -2,863 bearers (-4.1%) | Down 15 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 Hodges 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 | #471 | #486 | -3.2% |
| Count | 70,223 | 67,360 | -4.1% |
| Per 100K | 23.81 | 22.54 | -5.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Hodges bearers went from 70,223 to 67,360 (-4.1% change). The surname moved down 15 positions in the national ranking, going from #471 to #486.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Hodges
FAQ
Hodges surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Hodges?
Name Census estimates that about 77,243 living Americans carry the surname Hodges. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 4,437 residents.
How common is Hodges?
Hodges ranks #486 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 22.54 per 100,000 residents, which is about 23 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 67,360 people with the surname Hodges. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (77,243), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 22.54 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 22.54 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 23 of them to have the surname Hodges.
Has Hodges become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Hodges went from 70,223 recorded bearers to 67,360. That is a decrease of 2,863 (-4.1%). In the national ranking it fell from #471 to #486.
What does the Census say about the background of Hodges?
Among Census respondents with the surname Hodges, the largest self-reported group is White at 70.6%. The next largest groups are Black (20.3%) and Two or More Races (4.4%). 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 Hodges in the 2020 Census, accounting for 70.6% (47,581 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Hodges appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (70.6%), Black (20.3%), Two or More Races (4.4%). 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 Hodges (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 Hodges mean?
From a place name meaning "enclosed fields" in Old English, or referring to someone living near such fields. 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 Hodges (22.54 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 many people have the surname Hodges?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.