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

Mielke, 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 Mielke surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Mielke in America

Mielke is the 6235th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Mielke surname appeared 5,482 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Mielke.

We can also compare 2010 data for Mielke 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 Mielke

The surname Mielke originated in Germany, with records dating back to the late Middle Ages. It is a toponymic surname, derived from the placename Mielkau or Milka, which were small villages in the region of Silesia (now part of modern-day Poland). The name likely stems from the Slavic word "miłk" or "miełk," meaning "soft" or "gentle," suggesting it may have been initially used to describe someone from an area with a mild climate or fertile soil.

One of the earliest documented references to the Mielke name comes from a 1383 record in the town of Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland), which mentions a "Hanco Mielke." In the 15th century, the name appears in various spellings such as Milke, Mielcke, and Milcke in records from towns across Silesia and Brandenburg.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Mielke name began to spread beyond its original region as members of the family migrated to other parts of Germany and neighboring countries. Notable individuals from this period include Johann Mielke (1551-1625), a Lutheran theologian and rector of the University of Rostock, and Christoph Mielke (1625-1688), a German jurist and author.

In the 18th century, the Mielke surname gained prominence with figures like Johann Mielke (1712-1794), a German painter and engraver renowned for his landscape paintings and etchings. Another notable bearer of the name was Christian Friedrich Mielke (1784-1854), a Prussian jurist and politician who served as the Minister of Justice and Interior in the early 19th century.

As the 19th century progressed, the Mielke name continued to be found across various German states and kingdoms. One notable individual from this period was Gustav Mielke (1819-1899), a German architect who designed several prominent buildings in Berlin, including the Kronprinzenpalais and the Charlottenburg Palace.

In the 20th century, the Mielke surname gained notoriety with Erich Mielke (1907-2000), who served as the head of the Stasi, the notorious secret police of East Germany, from 1957 until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Mielke

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

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

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

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