Slater

Slater is the 1,114th most common surname in the United States, shared by 30,996 people at the 2020 census. That is about one person in 9,643.

By the numbers

People: 30,996
Rank: 1,114th
How common: 1 in 9,643
Per 100,000: 10.4

Where the name comes from

Origin an occupational name

From Middle English Slatere, Slatare, Sclatere, from Middle English sclater (“slater”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, used under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Who bears the name

How people with the surname Slater described their own race and Hispanic origin at the 2020 census:

White, not Hispanic 76.1%
Black, not Hispanic 14.9%
Two or more races, not Hispanic 4.0%
Hispanic or Latino 3.6%
American Indian or Alaska Native, not Hispanic 0.7%
Asian or Pacific Islander, not Hispanic 0.7%

Notable people called Slater

Christian Slater (born 1969)American actor and producer
Heath Slater (born 1983)American professional wrestler and actor
Helen Slater (born 1963)American actress, singer-songwriter
John C. Slater (1900–1976)American physicist
Kelly Slater (born 1972)American surfer
Bill Slater (1927–2018)English footballer
Cyril Slater (1897–1969)Canadian ice hockey player
Harriet Slater (born 1994)British actress

People named Slater with articles in the most Wikipedia languages. Data from Wikidata (CC0).

Surnames like Slater

Also a first name

Slater has been given to 2,445 American babies as a first name since 1915, peaking in 2025. See it as a given name.

Try it on yourself

Source: US Census Bureau, Frequently Occurring Surnames, 2020. The Census describes the file as the surnames borne by 100 or more people; rarer names are not published. The line is not quite exact, and 617 published names come in under it, the smallest at 92 people. Race and Hispanic origin are self-reported. Rates are worked out against the 298.9 million people the file's own figures are calculated on, which is fewer than the census counted in all: the difference is everyone whose surname was too rare to publish.