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

Blink, 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 Blink surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Blink in America

Blink is the 65424th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Blink surname appeared 303 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Blink.

We can also compare 2010 data for Blink 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 Blink

The surname Blink is believed to have originated in Germany, with the earliest recorded instances dating back to the 16th century. It is thought to be derived from the Old German word "blinken," which means "to blink" or "to twinkle." This linguistic connection suggests that the name may have been initially assigned as a descriptive nickname, perhaps referring to someone with a distinctive blinking habit or someone with sparkling eyes.

In the historical records, one of the earliest known bearers of the Blink surname was Hans Blink, a farmer who lived in the village of Oberhausen in the late 1500s. His name appears in several local tax registers and land ownership documents from that era. Another early record is found in the baptismal records of the town of Bingen, where a child named Jakob Blink was born to a family of winemakers in 1621.

The Blink name is also mentioned in the chronicles of the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), where a soldier named Peter Blink is documented as having served in the Swedish army under King Gustavus Adolphus. This suggests that the surname had already spread across various regions of Germany by the early 17th century.

During the 18th century, the Blink surname gained wider recognition with the rise of Johann Friedrich Blink, a prominent German theologian and philosopher who was born in 1723 in the city of Tübingen. His works on ethics and moral philosophy garnered significant attention throughout Europe, and he is considered one of the foremost thinkers of the Age of Enlightenment.

Another notable figure bearing the Blink surname was Carl Blink, a German-born artist and engraver who lived from 1802 to 1889. His intricate engravings and etchings, often depicting landscapes and architectural scenes, were highly acclaimed during his lifetime and are now held in numerous art collections worldwide.

As the Blink family spread across different parts of Europe, the name underwent slight variations in spelling, such as Blincke, Blynck, and Blynke. These variations were likely due to local dialects and regional influences on the pronunciation and transcription of the name.

While the Blink surname has its roots in Germany, it has since been carried across the globe by waves of emigration, making it a name found in many countries today. However, its origins can be traced back to the linguistic and cultural heritage of the German-speaking regions, where the name first emerged and gained prominence.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Blink

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

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 Blink 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 Blink 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 Blink was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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