2000
#122,534
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 130
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.05
Very Rare Last name
Daehnke
A German surname derived from a medieval place name referring to a person from a valley.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 138 Americans carry the last name Daehnke. That puts it at #142,049 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,483,727 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Daehnke surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
138
1 in 2,483,727
Census rank
#142,049
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
120
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 120 bearers of the surname Daehnke in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 142049th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Daehnke, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.7%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Daehnke
The surname DAEHNKE has its origins in northern Germany, particularly in the regions of Mecklenburg and Pomerania. It first emerged in the late 15th century and is believed to be derived from the Old German word "dene," which means "valley" or "dell." This suggests that the name may have initially referred to someone who lived in or near a valley.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the DAEHNKE surname can be found in the church records of the town of Güstrow, located in the historical region of Mecklenburg, dating back to the year 1521. Here, the name appears as "Deneke," which is likely an older spelling variation.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, the DAEHNKE surname began to spread beyond Mecklenburg and Pomerania, appearing in various historical documents across northern Germany. For example, in 1632, a man named Hans DAEHNKE was listed as a landowner in the village of Pritzier, near the city of Schwerin.
As the name continued to evolve, it took on different spellings, such as "Dähnke," "Dehnke," and "Dänke." These variations can be found in various parish records and censuses throughout the 18th and 19th centuries.
One notable figure bearing the DAEHNKE name was Johann Friedrich DAEHNKE, a German botanist and natural historian who lived from 1768 to 1830. He made significant contributions to the study of plants and is remembered for his extensive travels and botanical collections.
Another individual of note was Carl Friedrich DAEHNKE, a German author and poet born in 1809 in the town of Lübtheen, Mecklenburg. He published several volumes of poetry and prose works during his lifetime.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the DAEHNKE surname began to spread beyond Germany as many families emigrated to other parts of the world, particularly to the United States and Canada. One such individual was Karl DAEHNKE, a German immigrant who settled in Michigan in the 1870s and worked as a carpenter.
Another notable figure was Ida DAEHNKE, a German-American artist born in 1888 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She was known for her impressionist-style landscape paintings and worked as an art teacher for many years.
Throughout its history, the DAEHNKE surname has maintained a strong connection to its northern German roots, with many families tracing their ancestry back to the regions of Mecklenburg and Pomerania.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Daehnke
Among Census respondents with the surname Daehnke, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.7%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Daehnke bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Daehnke surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White95.8% · 115
- Hispanic or Latino1.7% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Daehnke
Daehnke appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#134,712
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 125
-5 bearers (-3.8%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 12,178 places
2020
#142,049
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 120
-5 bearers (-4.0%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 7,337 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #122,534 | 130 | 0.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #134,712 | 125 | 0.04 | -5 bearers (-3.8%) | Down 12,178 places |
| 2020 | #142,049 | 120 | 0.04 | -5 bearers (-4.0%) | Down 7,337 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Daehnke surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #134,712 | #142,049 | -5.4% |
| Count | 125 | 120 | -4.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | 0.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Daehnke bearers went from 125 to 120 (-4.0% change). The surname moved down 7,337 positions in the national ranking, going from #134,712 to #142,049.
FAQ
Daehnke surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Daehnke?
Name Census estimates that about 138 living Americans carry the surname Daehnke. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,483,727 residents.
How common is Daehnke?
Daehnke ranks #142,049 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 120 people with the surname Daehnke. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (138), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Daehnke.
Has Daehnke become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Daehnke went from 125 recorded bearers to 120. That is a decrease of 5 (-4.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #134,712 to #142,049.
What does the Census say about the background of Daehnke?
Among Census respondents with the surname Daehnke, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.7%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.7%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Daehnke in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.8% (115 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Daehnke appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (95.8%), Hispanic (1.7%), American Indian/Alaska Native (1.7%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Daehnke (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Daehnke mean?
A German surname derived from a medieval place name referring to a person from a valley. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Daehnke (0.04 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many Americans have the surname Daehnke?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.