Kurk
Of uncertain origin and meaning, perhaps Turkish relating to the French word "cru" meaning "raw" or "undeveloped".
Name Census estimates that about 187 living Americans carry the first name Kurk. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kurk today is around 57 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kurk births was 1961 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kurk. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
187
~ 1 in 1,832,911 Americans
Peak year
1961
13 babies that year
Average age
57
years old
1990 SSA rank
#8,891
Tracked since 1956
Census
Kurk in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 303 people with the first name Kurk, which placed it at #29,290 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#29,290
National first-name rank
People counted
303
303 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
70.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kurk
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kurk is White at 70.3%. The next largest groups are Black (17.5%) and Two or More Races (4.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Kurk 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 name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Kurk at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White70.3% · 213
- Black or African American17.5% · 53
- Two or more races4.6% · 14
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.3% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.0% · 6
Popularity
Kurk: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kurk from the 1950s through to the 1990s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 95 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kurk by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Kurk during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kurks live
Origin
Meaning and history of Kurk
The name Kurk is believed to have originated from the Old Norse language, which was spoken by the Germanic peoples of Scandinavia during the Viking Age, between the 8th and 11th centuries. It is thought to be derived from the Old Norse word "kurkr," which means "curved" or "bent." This could suggest that the name was initially given to individuals with a physical characteristic or perhaps a trait related to their personality or behavior.
In ancient Norse mythology, there are references to a figure named Kurk, who was a minor deity associated with the protection of livestock and farming. However, the historical records about this figure are scarce, and it is uncertain whether the name has a direct connection to this mythological character.
The earliest recorded use of the name Kurk can be traced back to the 10th century, when it appeared in the Icelandic sagas, which were a collection of stories and legends about the Norse people. One notable individual bearing this name was Kurk Þorvaldsson, a Viking chieftain from Iceland who lived around the year 950 AD.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who carried the name Kurk. One of the most famous was Kurk the Red (1022-1089), a Norwegian Viking who became a prominent figure in the court of King Harald Hardrada. He is known for his participation in various battles and raids during the Viking expansion in Europe.
Another notable figure was Kurk Magnusson (1134-1192), a Norwegian nobleman and military commander who played a significant role in the civil wars that plagued Norway during the 12th century. He was known for his bravery and strategic skills on the battlefield.
In the 13th century, a man named Kurk Eiriksson (1220-1287) was a renowned explorer and navigator from Iceland. He is credited with leading expeditions to Greenland and possibly even reaching the coast of North America, predating the voyages of Christopher Columbus.
During the Late Middle Ages, a German knight named Kurk von Regensburg (1320-1387) gained prominence for his participation in the Crusades and his military service to various European monarchs.
Finally, in the 16th century, a Swedish nobleman named Kurk Gustafsson (1542-1618) was a prominent statesman and diplomat who played a crucial role in the negotiations that led to the Peace of Westphalia, which ended the Thirty Years' War in Europe.
People
Kurk + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kurk as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Kurk: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kurk?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 187 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kurk going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,832,911 US residents.
Is Kurk a common name?
We classify Kurk as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 213 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kurk most popular?
The single biggest year for Kurk was 1961, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kurk is about 57 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kurk in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 303 people with the name Kurk, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #29,290 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Kurk in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Kurk?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kurk appears almost entirely male. Of the 303 people counted with this name, 99.0% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Kurk?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kurk is White at 70.3%. The next largest groups are Black (17.5%) and Two or More Races (4.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Kurk most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kurk in the 2020 Census, accounting for 70.3% (213 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Kurk in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kurk a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kurk in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Kurk still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kurk in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Kurk can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Kurk?
Find out how many people have the name Kurk on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.