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

Henke, 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 Henke surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Henke in America

Henke is the 4690th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Henke surname appeared 7,566 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 3 people would have the surname Henke.

We can also compare 2010 data for Henke 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 Henke

The surname HENKE originated in Germany, with roots dating back to the medieval period. It is believed to have derived from the Germanic personal name Henk or Henrich, which means "ruler of the home" or "estate ruler." This name was commonly used in various regions of Germany, including Bavaria, Saxony, and the Rhineland.

The earliest known record of the surname HENKE can be traced back to the 13th century in the town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, where a certain Henricus Henke was mentioned in a local chronicle from 1264. This suggests that the name had already established itself as a hereditary surname by that time.

In the 14th century, the HENKE surname appeared in various historical documents, such as the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae Regiae, which recorded land transactions and legal agreements in Saxony. One notable entry from 1378 mentions a Johannes Henke from the village of Borna.

During the 15th and 16th centuries, the HENKE surname continued to spread across German-speaking regions. In 1492, a certain Matthias Henke was recorded as a citizen of Nuremberg, a prominent city in Bavaria. Additionally, the Henke family played a significant role in the Protestant Reformation, with Martin Henke (1499-1568) being a close associate of Martin Luther and serving as a Protestant pastor in Wittenberg.

In the 17th century, the HENKE surname gained further prominence with the birth of Johann Henke (1617-1681), a renowned German theologian and author who served as a professor at the University of Giessen. His works on biblical exegesis and church history were widely influential during his time.

Other notable individuals with the HENKE surname include Friedrich Gustav Jakob Henke (1768-1853), a German Protestant theologian and philosopher who taught at the University of Helmstedt, and Ernst Ludwig Theodor Henke (1804-1872), a German jurist and legal scholar who served as a professor at the University of Marburg.

The HENKE surname has also been associated with various place names throughout Germany, such as Henkenhagen, a village in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and Henkendorf, a municipality in Saxony-Anhalt. These place names likely derived from individuals bearing the HENKE surname who resided or held estates in those locations.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Henke

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

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

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

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