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

Brinker, 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 Brinker surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Brinker in America

Brinker is the 5992nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Brinker surname appeared 5,736 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 Brinker.

We can also compare 2010 data for Brinker 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 Brinker

The surname Brinker has its origins in the Low German language and is believed to have originated in the region of Northern Germany. It is derived from the occupational term "brinkener" or "brinker," which referred to a person who lived near a brook, stream, or small body of water.

In the Middle Ages, the name was commonly used to identify individuals based on their proximity to a particular geographic feature, such as a body of water or a prominent landmark. This practice was prevalent in many parts of Europe, including Germany, where surnames were often derived from descriptive terms related to a person's occupation, physical characteristics, or place of residence.

The earliest recorded instances of the surname Brinker can be traced back to the 13th and 14th centuries in various historical documents from the regions of Lower Saxony and Westphalia in Northern Germany. It is important to note that the spelling of the name may have varied slightly in these early records due to the lack of standardized spelling conventions at the time.

One notable individual bearing the surname Brinker was Albert Brinker, a German merchant and trader who lived in the late 15th century. He is mentioned in several records from the city of Lübeck, which was a major trading hub in the Hanseatic League during that period.

Another historical figure with the surname Brinker was Henning Brinker, a prominent landowner and nobleman from the region of Mecklenburg in Northern Germany. He lived in the 16th century and is mentioned in various land records and legal documents from that time.

In the 17th century, a man named Johannes Brinker was a renowned clockmaker and watchmaker in the city of Hamburg. His intricate timepieces were highly sought after by the wealthy and noble classes of the time.

Moving into the 18th century, Hans Brinker was a Dutch artist known for his landscape paintings depicting scenes from the Netherlands. He was born in Amsterdam in 1738 and died in 1804.

Finally, in the 19th century, a German author and poet named Wilhelm Brinker gained recognition for his works celebrating the beauty of nature and the rural landscapes of Northern Germany. He was born in 1822 in the town of Bredenbeck and passed away in 1892.

These are just a few examples of individuals with the surname Brinker who have left their mark on history over the centuries, highlighting the rich and diverse heritage associated with this name.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Brinker

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

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

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

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