Find out how popular the last name Belk is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Belk.

Belk, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Belk surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Belk in America

Belk is the 5085th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Belk surname appeared 6,886 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Belk.

We can also compare 2010 data for Belk to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Belk

The surname Belk is believed to have originated in Germany or the Low Countries, with the earliest recorded instances dating back to the 16th century. It is thought to be derived from the Middle Low German word "belk," which means "beam" or "plank," suggesting that the name may have been an occupational surname for a carpenter or woodworker.

One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name was Hans Belk, a German carpenter who lived in the town of Aachen in the late 16th century. Records from the time show that he was a respected member of the local guild of carpenters and woodworkers.

In the 17th century, the Belk surname began to appear in various records across the German-speaking regions of Europe. For example, a Johann Belk was listed as a resident of the town of Lübeck in 1632, while a family by the name of Belk was recorded as landowners in the village of Diepenau in the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the late 1600s.

As the centuries passed, the Belk surname spread to other parts of Europe and beyond. In the 18th century, a man named Jacob Belk was born in the German town of Murrhardt in 1724. He later emigrated to the British colonies in America, settling in Pennsylvania in the 1750s.

Another notable bearer of the Belk surname was the German philosopher and writer Johann August Eberhard Belk, who lived from 1769 to 1853. He was a prominent figure in the field of aesthetics and wrote several influential works on the subject.

During the 19th century, the Belk surname began to appear more frequently in various parts of the United States, particularly in the southern states. One of the most famous individuals with this name was William Henry Belk, a successful businessman who founded the Belk department store chain in the late 19th century. He was born in 1862 in Monroe, North Carolina, and the first Belk store opened in Monroe in 1888.

Throughout its history, the Belk surname has been associated with various occupations and professions, from carpenters and woodworkers to philosophers, writers, and business magnates. While its origins can be traced back to the German-speaking regions of Europe, the name has since spread to many parts of the world, carried by generations of individuals who have contributed to the rich tapestry of human endeavor.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Belk

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Belk.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Belk was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Belk has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Belk was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Belk, please contact us.

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!