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

Dirks, 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 Dirks surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Dirks in America

Dirks is the 7350th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Dirks surname appeared 4,534 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 Dirks.

We can also compare 2010 data for Dirks 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 Dirks

The surname Dirks is of Dutch origin, with its roots dating back to the 16th century. It is derived from the Dutch personal name Dirk, which is a variant of the Germanic name Theodoric or Dietrich. The name Dirk itself is thought to have come from the elements "diet" meaning "people" and "ric" meaning "ruler" or "powerful."

The earliest known record of the surname Dirks can be found in the Dutch province of Friesland, where it was used to distinguish individuals from the same village or region. In those times, surnames were often derived from personal names, occupations, or geographical locations.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Dirks is in a 1587 document from the city of Leeuwarden, which mentions a man named Jan Dirks. This suggests that the surname was already in use by the late 16th century in the Netherlands.

In the 17th century, the surname Dirks began to appear in various records and manuscripts across the Dutch Republic. For instance, a merchant named Pieter Dirks is mentioned in the records of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in 1624.

As the Dutch Empire expanded, the surname Dirks spread to other parts of the world, including the Dutch colonies in South Africa and the Dutch West Indies. One notable figure with this surname was Dirk Dirks, a Dutch settler who arrived in South Africa in 1687 and became a prominent farmer and landowner in the Cape Colony.

Another notable individual with the surname Dirks was Abraham Dirks, a Dutch Golden Age painter who lived from around 1650 to 1719. Dirks was known for his genre scenes depicting everyday life in the Netherlands.

In the 19th century, the surname Dirks was further dispersed through emigration, with many Dutch families carrying the name settling in countries like the United States, Canada, and Australia. One such individual was Jacob Dirks, a Dutch immigrant who arrived in the United States in 1845 and later became a successful businessman in Wisconsin.

Other notable individuals with the surname Dirks include Walter Dirks (1901-1991), a German-American author and journalist, and Rudolph Dirks (1877-1968), an American cartoonist and the creator of the popular comic strip "The Katzenjammer Kids."

While the surname Dirks may have evolved over time, its Dutch origins and historical significance remain intact, serving as a testament to the rich cultural heritage and migration patterns of the Netherlands.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Dirks

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

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

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

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