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

Loken, 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 Loken surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Loken in America

Loken is the 14252nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Loken surname appeared 2,103 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 Loken.

We can also compare 2010 data for Loken 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 Loken

The surname Loken is of Norwegian origin and dates back to the medieval period. It is believed to have originated from the Old Norse word "loka," which means "to close" or "to lock." This suggests that the name may have been derived from a nickname given to someone who worked as a locksmith or someone who was responsible for closing gates or doors.

In Norway, the name was concentrated in the western regions, particularly in areas around Bergen and Stavanger. Some of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in historical documents and parish records from the 16th and 17th centuries.

One of the earliest known references to the name Loken appears in the Diplomatarium Norvegicum, a collection of medieval Norwegian documents, where a person named Olaf Loken is mentioned in a document dated 1521. Another notable early record is from the 1670s, where a man named Hans Loken is recorded as a farmer in the parish of Voss, near Bergen.

While the name Loken does not appear in the famous Domesday Book, which was a survey of land ownership in England in the 11th century, it is possible that the name or a similar variant existed in other parts of Scandinavia during that time period.

One of the earliest known individuals with the surname Loken was Erik Loken, a Norwegian farmer and landowner who lived in the late 16th century. His son, Peder Eriksson Loken, was born in 1602 and became a prominent figure in the local community, serving as a church warden and a member of the parish council.

In the 19th century, a notable figure with the surname Loken was Hans Loken, a Norwegian politician and farmer who was born in 1825 and served as a member of the Storting (Norwegian parliament) from 1874 to 1879. Another individual of note was Kristoffer Loken, born in 1865, who was a renowned architect and designed several churches and public buildings in Norway.

Moving into the 20th century, one of the most famous individuals with the surname Loken was the Norwegian writer and poet Ivar Loken, who was born in 1920 and gained recognition for his novels and short stories that explored themes of rural life and the struggles of the working class.

It is worth noting that the surname Loken has also been associated with place names in Norway, such as Loken in Trøndelag county, and Lokenga, a village in Vestland county. These place names may have influenced the development and spread of the surname in certain regions.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Loken

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

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

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

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