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

Donk, 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 Donk surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Donk in America

Donk is the 78821st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Donk surname appeared 242 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 Donk.

We can also compare 2010 data for Donk 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 Donk

The surname DONK has its origins in the Low German and Dutch languages, tracing back to the 14th century. It is believed to have derived from the Middle Dutch word "donck," which meant a low-lying marshy area or a small hill. This suggests that the name may have originally referred to someone who lived near or on such a geographical feature.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name DONK can be found in the Binnengasthuis archives of Amsterdam, where a certain Pieter Donck was mentioned in the year 1398. The name also appears in the historical records of the city of Leiden, with a Hans van Donck documented in 1452.

In the 16th century, the DONK surname gained prominence in the Netherlands and neighboring regions. A notable figure was Adriaen Donck, born around 1618 in Remmersdaal, Netherlands. He was a lawyer and one of the founders of the settlement of New Netherland (present-day New York) in the Dutch colonial era.

Moving into the 17th century, the name DONK spread further across Europe. In England, a record from 1642 mentions a William Donck, a merchant from London. Meanwhile, in Germany, the historian and cartographer Johann Donk, born in 1653 in Neuhaus am Rennweg, made significant contributions to the mapping of the Holy Roman Empire.

The 18th century saw the DONK surname continue to appear in various parts of Europe. In France, the writer and philosopher Pierre Donk, born in 1710 in Marseille, gained recognition for his work on political philosophy. In the Netherlands, the painter Gerrit Donk, born in 1767 in Amsterdam, became known for his landscapes and city scenes.

As the centuries progressed, individuals bearing the DONK surname continued to leave their mark in various fields. One notable figure was the Dutch physicist and Nobel Prize winner Hendrik Antoon Donk, born in 1892 in Rotterdam, who made significant contributions to the study of electromagnetic radiation.

While the origins of the DONK surname can be traced back to the Low Countries, it has since spread and taken root in many parts of the world, carried by generations of individuals who have left their own legacies and stories woven into the tapestry of this ancient name.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Donk

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

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

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Donk, 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!