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

Jencks, 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 Jencks surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Jencks in America

Jencks is the 34390th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Jencks surname appeared 659 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 Jencks.

We can also compare 2010 data for Jencks 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 Jencks

The surname Jencks is believed to have originated in England, likely in the medieval period. It is thought to be derived from the Old English personal name "Jening" or "Jenning," which itself is a diminutive form of the name John. The surname may have also been influenced by the Old English word "jening," meaning a young man or servant.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jencks can be found in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273, where a John Jenynges is listed in Oxfordshire. The surname appears to have been concentrated in the counties of Oxfordshire, Berkshire, and Wiltshire in its early days.

In the 14th century, the surname was sometimes recorded as Jenkes or Jenkis. A William Jenkys is mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Somerset in 1327. The variant spelling Jencks seems to have emerged in the 16th century, with a John Jenckes appearing in the parish records of Cumnor, Oxfordshire, in 1582.

One notable early bearer of the name was Joseph Jencks (1599-1683), a colonial American settler who arrived in Lynn, Massachusetts, in 1636. He later moved to Rhode Island, where he became involved in the founding of Warwick and Pawtuxet.

Another prominent individual with this surname was Thomas Jencks (1718-1798), an English-born American Baptist minister and author who played a significant role in the early Baptist movement in New England. He founded the First Baptist Church in Newton, Massachusetts, in 1765.

In the 19th century, Solon Jencks (1811-1884) was a notable American architect and civil engineer who designed several significant buildings and structures in Rhode Island, including the Old State House in Providence.

Other notable individuals with the surname Jencks include Thomas A. Jenckes (1827-1920), a U.S. Representative from Rhode Island, and Clinton Jencks (1918-2005), an American labor activist and businessman whose involvement in a political case led to the establishment of the "Jencks Act" in federal criminal procedure.

Overall, the surname Jencks has a long history in England and the United States, with its origins likely stemming from a diminutive form of the name John and potentially influenced by an Old English word for a young man or servant.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Jencks

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

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

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

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