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

Janke, 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 Janke surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Janke in America

Janke is the 8330th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Janke surname appeared 3,977 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 Janke.

We can also compare 2010 data for Janke 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 Janke

The surname Janke has its origins in Germany, and can be traced back to the 16th century. It is derived from the Germanic personal name Johann, which is a variant of the Hebrew name Yohanan, meaning "God is gracious." The earliest known spelling of the name was Jancke.

Janke was initially found in the regions of Saxony and Prussia, where it was commonly used as a patronymic surname, indicating that the bearer was the son of someone named Johann. In some cases, the name may have also been an occupational surname, referring to someone who worked as a servant or attendant.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Janke can be found in the church records of the town of Merseburg, Saxony, from the year 1573. The name was also documented in the registers of the city of Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland) in the early 17th century.

In the 18th century, a notable bearer of the surname Janke was Johann Georg Janke (1720-1786), a German theologian and author who served as a pastor in the town of Lehnin, Brandenburg. Another individual of note was Friedrich Janke (1797-1868), a German businessman and philanthropist from Berlin, who made significant contributions to the development of the city's infrastructure and education system.

In the 19th century, the Janke surname can be found in various genealogical records and historical documents across Germany and neighboring regions. For example, Carl Janke (1813-1888) was a German composer and conductor who worked in the cities of Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland) and Leipzig.

Another prominent figure was Theodor Janke (1858-1944), a German politician and journalist who served as a member of the Reichstag (the German parliament) from 1907 to 1918. He was also the editor of the newspaper Vossische Zeitung in Berlin.

In the early 20th century, Karl Janke (1888-1968) was a German architect and urban planner who played a significant role in the reconstruction of Berlin after World War II. He was responsible for designing several notable buildings and public spaces in the city.

While the surname Janke is predominantly found in Germany and neighboring countries, it has also been adopted by people of German descent in other parts of the world, particularly in North America and Australia, following waves of emigration in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Janke

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

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

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

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