The Akin surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 8,626 people carried this name — #4,114 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 34,200 people counted. That is up 3% from 8,378 in 2000.
In Belgium’s population register
At least 910 people named Akin live in Belgium.
Statbel only publishes a name in a municipality when five or more people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Brussels-Capital.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
Statbel (Statistics Belgium), family names of the population by municipality, 1 January 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
276 people named Akin live in Switzerland.
They live in 15 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 27 people named Akin.
Most of them — 21 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 5 départements, most often Bas-Rhin.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In the Nordic population registers
108 people named Akin is counted in Sweden.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown).
In the first U.S. census, 1790
132 families named Akin, or a close spelling, were counted in 1790.
Each family is counted by its head. About 700 people lived in those households, 5.3 to a family on average. The table counts it together with 6 other spellings. The table lists white heads of families only, in the twelve states whose 1790 records survive; Virginia’s figures come from state lists of 1782–1785.
Families, by state
U.S. Census Bureau, «A Century of Population Growth from the First Census of the United States to the Twelfth, 1790–1900» (Washington, 1909), table 111, p. 227 — public domain · names carried by at least 100 white persons in 1790.
In print
Akin in American newspapers,
1912–1924.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 2,096 pages in all carry the name.
In print
Akin in Australian newspapers,
1840s–1980s.
4,951 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Akin. The most, 1,787, date from the 1900s. Weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, it stands out most in Victoria, at 1.7 times its expected share.
Articles, by state
Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Akin.
Who carried it
People named Akin,
with a public archive behind them.
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James H. Akin 1832–1911 · politician
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Edward C. Akin 1852–1936 · lawyer -
Theron Akin 1855–1933 · politician -
Spencer B. Akin 1889–1973 · military officer -
James Akin 1773–1846 · caricaturist
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Warren Akin, Sr. 1811–1877 · lawyer
Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 9 lives in all are documented under this name.
In the public record
People named Akin,
in the records of 5 countries.
Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.
United States594 records
- U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 309
- U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 127
- New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 50
- New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 47
- Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 21
- Irish Famine arrivals at New York, 1846–1851 18
- U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 17
- Sacramento County historic burials 2
- U.S. service members who died in the Vietnam War 2
- U.S. service members who died in the Korean War 1
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Example: U.S. registration card, 1942 Military record Robert M. AkinBorn 1917 in Oklahoma. Enlisted 1941 at Fort Sam Houston, Texas; shipping clerk. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1995, buried at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, Texas.
U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) -
Example: passenger manifest, 1903 Passenger record Aschel AkinArrived at New York in 1888 aboard the City of Richmond from Liverpool and Queenstown, aged 25; laborer. From Hamburg, Russia; bound for New York.
U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) -
Example: U.S. war memorial War record Richard Arthur AkinBorn 1948; from Albany, Oregon. U.S. Army, infantryman; killed in action 1968 in Tay Ninh, South Vietnam.
U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain)
Showing 3 of 594 records for Akin in the United States.
Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · Sacramento County, Historic Burials (CC BY 4.0) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain).
Australia41 records
- Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 26
- Tasmanian Names Index 12
- NSW convict, estate and railway indexes 1
- Queensland State Archives indexes 1
- Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 1
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Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829 Transportation record Charles AkinTransported to New South Wales aboard the Susan, arriving 1834; certificate of freedom 1844.
Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) -
Example: passenger manifest, 1903 Passenger record Wm AkinArrived in Victoria in 1853 aboard the North Atlantic, aged 27; English.
Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) -
Example: civil register, 1880 Death record Mary Anne AkinDied 1836 in Hobart, Tasmania, aged 27.
Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
Showing 3 of 41 records for Akin in Australia.
Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, with the convicts going on board, etching by Edward William Cooke, 1829, Royal Museums Greenwich (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).
Canada37 records
- Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 36
- Canadian Virtual War Memorial 1
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Example: civil register, 1880 Death record Susan R. AkinDied 1947 in Windsor, Hants, Nova Scotia.
Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. -
Example: Canadian war grave register, 1917 War record Thomas Bernard AkinDied in service in 1945.
Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. -
Example: civil register, 1880 Death record Leonard Maxwell AkinDied 1911 in Falmouth, Hants, Nova Scotia.
Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.
Showing 3 of 37 records for Akin in Canada.
Counts: Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0); Canadian First World War circumstances-of-death register (scan by Scottgraham87 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0).
France4 records
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Example: French death register, 1930 Death record Matice AkinBorn 1922 in Turkey; died 1995 in Gleizé (Rhône).
Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte) -
Example: French death register, 1930 Death record Ali AkinBorn 1972 in Turkey; died 1991 in Saint-Germain-en-Laye (Yvelines).
Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)
Showing 2 of 4 records for Akin in France.
Counts: Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Death register of Nice, 1930, Archives départementales des Alpes-Maritimes (public domain).
United Kingdom1 record
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Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919 War record W. E. AkinGunner, Royal Field Artillery. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1918.
National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)
Counts: National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: C. & E. Morton Ltd roll of honour, 1914–1919, photo by Adrian S Pye via Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0).
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Akin.
When the index is not enough
This page says where Akin is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.