2000
#131,366
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 119
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Hoenke
A surname of German origin possibly referring to a chicken farmer or someone from the village of Hohen.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 117 Americans carry the last name Hoenke. That puts it at #154,755 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,929,524 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Hoenke 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
117
1 in 2,929,524
Census rank
#154,755
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
102
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 102 bearers of the surname Hoenke in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 154755th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Hoenke, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.0%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (2.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Hoenke
The surname Hoenke is of German origin, originating from the northern regions of present-day Germany during the late medieval period. It is believed to have derived from the Old German word "hone," meaning "rooster" or "cockerel," suggesting that the name may have been an occupational name for someone who raised or traded in poultry.
Some of the earliest recorded instances of the name Hoenke can be found in various German parish records and tax rolls from the 16th and 17th centuries. For example, a certain Hans Hoenke was listed as a resident of the town of Rostock in 1582, while a Johannes Hoenke appeared in the baptismal records of the village of Marienwerder in 1624.
The Hoenke name has been associated with several notable figures throughout history. One of the earliest was Johann Gottfried Hoenke (1717-1789), a German Lutheran theologian and author who served as a pastor in various parishes across Saxony and Thuringia. Another prominent bearer of the name was Friedrich Wilhelm Hoenke (1784-1863), a Prussian military officer who fought in the Napoleonic Wars and later served as the governor of several Prussian provinces.
In the 19th century, Carl Hoenke (1809-1892) was a German-American farmer and businessman who established one of the first successful vineyards in the state of Missouri. He emigrated from Prussia in the 1830s and became a respected figure in the local German-American community.
More recently, Heinrich Hoenke (1892-1978) was a German architect who designed several notable buildings in Berlin and other German cities during the early 20th century, including the Zeiss Planetarium in Jena.
Another noteworthy individual was Gertrud Hoenke (1899-1991), a German-American social worker and activist who dedicated her life to improving the lives of disadvantaged children and families in New York City. She founded the Hoenke Nursery, one of the first integrated child care centers in the United States.
While the Hoenke name may have originated from a humble occupational background, it has been borne by individuals who have made significant contributions in various fields, including theology, military service, business, architecture, and social welfare, both in Germany and abroad.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hoenke
Among Census respondents with the surname Hoenke, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.0%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (2.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Hoenke 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 Hoenke surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White94.1% · 96
- Hispanic or Latino2.0% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.0% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 1
- Two or more races1.0% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Hoenke
Hoenke 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
#148,347
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 111
-8 bearers (-6.7%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 16,981 places
2020
#154,755
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 102
-9 bearers (-8.1%)
Per 100,000 0.03
Rank movement Down 6,408 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #131,366 | 119 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #148,347 | 111 | 0.04 | -8 bearers (-6.7%) | Down 16,981 places |
| 2020 | #154,755 | 102 | 0.03 | -9 bearers (-8.1%) | Down 6,408 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 Hoenke 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 | #148,347 | #154,755 | -4.3% |
| Count | 111 | 102 | -8.1% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.03 | -14.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Hoenke bearers went from 111 to 102 (-8.1% change). The surname moved down 6,408 positions in the national ranking, going from #148,347 to #154,755.
FAQ
Hoenke surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Hoenke?
Name Census estimates that about 117 living Americans carry the surname Hoenke. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,929,524 residents.
How common is Hoenke?
Hoenke ranks #154,755 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.03 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 102 people with the surname Hoenke. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (117), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.03 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.03 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 Hoenke.
Has Hoenke become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Hoenke went from 111 recorded bearers to 102. That is a decrease of 9 (-8.1%). In the national ranking it fell from #148,347 to #154,755.
What does the Census say about the background of Hoenke?
Among Census respondents with the surname Hoenke, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.0%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (2.0%). 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 Hoenke in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.1% (96 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Hoenke appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (94.1%), Hispanic (2.0%), American Indian/Alaska Native (2.0%). 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 Hoenke (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 Hoenke mean?
A surname of German origin possibly referring to a chicken farmer or someone from the village of Hohen. 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 Hoenke (0.03 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 people share the surname Hoenke?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.