By choosing the name, he says, Reconstruction-era blacks might have been showing pride in the nation's history, as George Washington, who died in 1799, was still hugely popular at the time. The 2000 U.S. Census counted 163,036 people with the last name Washington, 90 percent of whom were black — a far higher percentage than any other name. Writes Washington: 
 
 
 
 The story of how Washington became the "blackest name" begins with slavery and takes a sharp turn after the Civil War, when all blacks were allowed the dignity of a surname. While in Philadelphia, Oney Judge, Martha Washington's maid, moved about the city and met many free blacks. Washington abused his presidential powers by asking the Treasury Department to kidnap Judge from her new life in New Hampshire, says Chernow, but the plot failed.) "Washington was leading this schizoid life," Chernow said in the interview. "In theory and on paper he was opposed to slavery, but he was still zealously tracking and seeking to recover his slaves who escaped." Then again, "It's a myth," writes Washington, "that most enslaved blacks bore the last name of their owner." According to Mary Thompson, a historian at Washington's Mount Vernon plantation, the president recorded most as having only a first name — and despite the abolitionist writings he left behind, he owned hundreds of slaves. "Keep in mind that after the Civil War, many of the big planters continued to be extremely powerful figures in their regions, so there was an advantage for a freed person to keep a link to a leading white family," says Wiencek, author of "An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America." "It's an assumption that the surname is tied to George," says Tony Burroughs, an expert on black genealogy, who says 82 to 94 percent of all Washingtons listed in the 1880 to 1930 censuses were black. "There is no direct evidence," says Tony Burroughs, an expert on black genealogy. "As far as I'm concerned it's a coincidence." (The surname study was not repeated in the 2010 Census.) In 2000, only 5 percent (8,813) of Washingtons in the U.S. were white. By comparison, Williams was the sixteenth "blackest" name, at 46 percent black, even though the name is much more popular, and there were 716,704 black Williamses overall. According to Jesse Washington, the name is so heavily African-American that many present-day Washingtons are "surprised to learn" that white Washingtons exist, having never met one. george washington Washington the ‘Blackest’ Name in America 
 
 On the eve of George Washington's birthday, Associated Press writer Jesse Washington investigates why the founding father's surname now belongs predominantly to African-Americans.
– George Washington’s name is synonymous with America—and of the people who bear his surname today, 90% of them are African-American, according to the 2000 census. How did “Washington” become, as Jesse Washington, writing for the AP calls it, the “blackest name" in America? It could be that blacks chose the name to honor George himself, an odd prospect when you consider that the first US president, while opposed to slavery on paper, owned 124 slaves and worked them hard. But perhaps not so odd when you realize that Washington also freed all 124 of those slaves upon his and his wife’s deaths; of the eight American presidents who owned slaves while in office, he was the only one to do so. Some of his former slaves may have chosen to take his surname as a mark of their community; others may have wanted to maintain a link to a powerful family after being freed. Or the choice could have been random: Booker T. Washington, for example, has never said why he chose his last name 60 years or so after George Washington’s death. Some may even have picked the name to signal their devotion to their new country: "There was a lot more consciousness and pride in American history among African-Americans and enslaved African-Americans than a lot of people give them credit for,” says one professor and author. But one black genealogy expert, who says 82% to 94% of Washingtons listed in the 1880 to 1930 censuses were black, disagrees. "As far as I'm concerned it's a coincidence." Click here for more from the article.