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

Jenkin, 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 Jenkin surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Jenkin in America

Jenkin is the 21439th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Jenkin surname appeared 1,219 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 Jenkin.

We can also compare 2010 data for Jenkin 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 Jenkin

The surname Jenkin originated in Wales and is derived from the Welsh personal name Jenkin, which was a pet form of the name John. It was a relatively common surname in parts of Wales during the medieval period.

One of the earliest recorded bearers of this name was Jenkin ap Ieuan, who was mentioned in records from Flintshire, Wales in 1391. The "ap" prefix means "son of" in Welsh, indicating his father's name was Ieuan.

The Jenkin surname also appeared in the famous Domesday Book of 1086, compiled by order of William the Conqueror. This suggests the name had Anglo-Norman roots and may have been adopted by some Norman settlers in Wales.

In the 16th century, records show a Jenkin Morgan was born around 1540 in Pencoed, Glamorgan, Wales. He was a landowner and notable figure in the local community.

Moving into the 17th century, we find Sir Leoline Jenkin (1625-1685), a Welsh judge and politician who served as Speaker of the House of Commons from 1671 to 1672 during the reign of King Charles II.

Another prominent bearer was Henry Jenkin (1733-1798), a Welsh Anglican priest and author who wrote several works on theology and philosophy in the late 18th century.

The surname also has connections to place names like Jenkins Reen in Somerset, England, which likely derived its name from a person with the Jenkin surname who lived there centuries ago.

As the centuries passed, spelling variations emerged, including Jenkyns, Jenkyn, Jenckins, and Jenkings, reflecting the way the name was pronounced in different regions of Wales and England over time.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Jenkin

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

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

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

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