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

Fenske, 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 Fenske surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Fenske in America

Fenske is the 9761st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Fenske surname appeared 3,320 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Fenske.

We can also compare 2010 data for Fenske 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 Fenske

The surname Fenske originates from Germany, where it first emerged during the medieval period. It is believed to have derived from the Low German word "fenne," which refers to a marshy or swampy area. This suggests that the name may have initially been a descriptive term referring to someone who lived near or worked in such a region.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Fenske can be found in the Deutsches Familiennamen-Lexikon, a comprehensive dictionary of German family names. This reference work cites a certain Hermen Fenske, who was documented in the town of Plau in Mecklenburg, Germany, as early as 1419.

In the 16th century, the name Fenske appears in various historical records from the region of Pomerania, which was then part of the German states. For example, a Valten Fenske is mentioned in the town of Stettin (now Szczecin, Poland) in 1535.

As the name spread across German-speaking areas, variations in spelling emerged. Some of these include Fenskey, Fenski, and Fenschen. These alternative spellings likely reflect regional dialects and differences in pronunciation.

One notable individual bearing the Fenske surname was Johann Fenske, a German composer and organist who lived from 1668 to 1732. He served as the court organist for the Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and composed several works for organ and other instruments.

Another historical figure with the Fenske name was Carl Fenske, a German painter and illustrator who was born in 1819 and died in 1882. He is known for his landscape paintings and illustrations of fairy tales and legends.

In the 19th century, the name Fenske can be found in various German-language place names, such as Fenskenhausen, a village in the state of Saxony-Anhalt. This further reinforces the connection between the surname and geographic locations associated with swampy or marshy areas.

Other notable individuals with the Fenske surname include Walther Fenske, a German military officer who served in World War II and was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his bravery. He was born in 1897 and died in 1962.

Additionally, there was a German-American artist named Hildegard Fenske, who was born in 1899 and died in 1990. She was known for her abstract expressionist paintings and worked primarily in New York City.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Fenske

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

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

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