2010
#157,234
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 103
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.03
Very Rare Last name
Loecke
A German surname derived from a place name or topographic feature.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 117 Americans carry the last name Loecke. 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 Loecke 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 Loecke 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 Loecke, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.9%) and Black (1.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Loecke
The surname LOECKE is believed to have originated in Germany, specifically in the northern regions of the country. It likely emerged during the Middle Ages, sometime around the 12th or 13th century.
One theory suggests that LOECKE may have derived from an Old German word "locke," which referred to a lock or curl of hair. This could have been used as a descriptive nickname for someone with curly or unruly hair, which later became a hereditary surname.
Another possibility is that LOECKE is a locational surname, originating from a place name. There are several towns and villages in northern Germany with names similar to Loecke, such as Löcknitz or Lökken. These place names may have been derived from words related to small bodies of water or marshlands.
The earliest recorded instances of the LOECKE surname date back to the 14th century. In 1392, a document from the town of Stendal in Saxony-Anhalt mentions a person named Hans Loecke. Another early reference can be found in the records of the city of Hamburg from 1456, which list a merchant named Hinrich Loecke.
One notable figure with the LOECKE surname was Johann Friedrich Loecke (1673-1737), a German theologian and author who served as a pastor in the town of Werben, near Magdeburg. He published several religious works during his lifetime.
Another individual of historical significance was Karl Friedrich Loecke (1805-1865), a German lawyer and politician who served as a member of the Prussian House of Representatives in the mid-19th century.
In the realm of arts and literature, there was Karl Loecke (1870-1949), a German painter and illustrator known for his landscape paintings and book illustrations.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the LOECKE surname in North America comes from Johann Loecke, who immigrated to Pennsylvania from Germany in 1754.
A more recent figure was Walter Loecke (1888-1954), a German-American engineer and inventor who held numerous patents related to automotive and aircraft technologies.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who carried the surname LOECKE, which has its roots in the northern regions of Germany and likely originated as either a descriptive nickname or a locational surname.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Loecke
Among Census respondents with the surname Loecke, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.9%) and Black (1.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Loecke 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 Loecke surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.1% · 95
- Hispanic or Latino3.9% · 4
- Black or African American1.0% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 1
- Two or more races1.0% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Loecke
Loecke appears in 2 published Census surname files: 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2020
#154,755
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 102
-1 bearers (-1.0%)
Per 100,000 0.03
Rank movement Up 2,479 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #157,234 | 103 | 0.03 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #154,755 | 102 | 0.03 | -1 bearers (-1.0%) | Up 2,479 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 Loecke 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 | #157,234 | #154,755 | 1.6% |
| Count | 103 | 102 | -1.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.03 | 0.03 | 13.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Loecke bearers went from 103 to 102 (-1.0% change). The surname moved up 2,479 positions in the national ranking, going from #157,234 to #154,755.
FAQ
Loecke surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Loecke?
Name Census estimates that about 117 living Americans carry the surname Loecke. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,929,524 residents.
How common is Loecke?
Loecke 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 Loecke. 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 Loecke.
Has Loecke become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Loecke went from 103 recorded bearers to 102. That is a decrease of 1 (-1.0%). In the national ranking it rose from #157,234 to #154,755.
What does the Census say about the background of Loecke?
Among Census respondents with the surname Loecke, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.9%) and Black (1.0%). 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 Loecke in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.1% (95 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Loecke appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.1%), Hispanic (3.9%), Black (1.0%). 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 Loecke (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 Loecke mean?
A German surname derived from a place name or topographic feature. 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 Loecke (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 are called Loecke?
Find out how many Americans have the surname Loecke on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.