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

Lok, 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 Lok surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Lok in America

Lok is the 17992nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Lok surname appeared 1,552 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 Lok.

We can also compare 2010 data for Lok 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 Lok

The surname Lok has its origins in the Netherlands, dating back to the early 16th century. It is believed to be derived from the Middle Dutch word "lock," meaning lock or curl, likely referring to a person with curly hair or a lock of hair. The name was initially concentrated in the Dutch provinces of Noord-Brabant and Limburg.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lok can be found in the baptismal records of the Dutch Reformed Church in Amsterdam, where a child named Adriaen Lok was baptized in 1592. Another early reference is found in the records of the city of Leiden, where a merchant named Pieter Lok is mentioned in the year 1618.

The name Lok can also be traced to place names in the Netherlands, such as the village of Lokhoven, located in the municipality of Tilburg. This village name is derived from the Old Dutch words "loh" and "hoven," meaning a small forest or grove.

Historically, there have been several notable individuals with the surname Lok. One such person was Michiel Lok (1619-1688), a Dutch Golden Age painter known for his landscapes and marine scenes. Another was Cornelis Lok (1603-1679), a Dutch merchant and explorer who led several expeditions to the Arctic regions in search of a Northeast Passage to Asia.

In the 19th century, Jacobus Lok (1825-1902) was a prominent Dutch architect who designed several notable buildings in Amsterdam, including the Rijksmuseum. Another notable figure was Pieter Lok (1876-1959), a Dutch trade union leader and politician who served as a member of the Dutch parliament.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, some individuals with the surname Lok migrated to other parts of Europe and the Americas, leading to the spread of the name beyond its original Dutch roots. For example, records show that a family named Lok settled in the Dutch colony of Suriname in South America in the late 17th century.

While the surname Lok is relatively uncommon outside of the Netherlands, it has persisted throughout the centuries and continues to be associated with its Dutch heritage and origins.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Lok

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

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

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

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