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

Penske, 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 Penske surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Penske in America

Penske is the 123796th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Penske surname appeared 139 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 Penske.

We can also compare 2010 data for Penske 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 Penske

The surname Penske originated in Germany and can be traced back to the early 16th century. Its roots likely stem from the German word "Penski" or "Penske," which was a locational name referring to someone from the village of Pensk or Pensk-Feld.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Penske appears in the baptismal records of St. Michael's Church in the town of Zweibrücken, Germany, where a child named Johann Penske was baptized in 1562. This suggests that the name was already well-established in the region by that time.

Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, the Penske name can be found in various historical records and documents from the Palatinate region of Germany, particularly in the areas around the towns of Zweibrücken, Kaiserslautern, and Landau.

The first notable bearer of the surname Penske was Hans Penske, a farmer and landowner who lived in the village of Obermoschel in the late 16th century. His son, Johann Penske, was a respected member of the local community and served as a village elder.

Another prominent figure with the Penske surname was Friedrich Penske, a Lutheran minister who lived in the town of Neustadt an der Weinstraße in the early 18th century. He was known for his influential sermons and his work in promoting education in the region.

In the 19th century, the Penske family began to migrate to other parts of Europe and the Americas. One of the most famous bearers of the name was the American businessman and entrepreneur Roger Penske, who was born in 1937 and founded the highly successful Penske Corporation and Penske Racing.

Other notable individuals with the Penske surname include the German writer and poet Max Penske (1869-1924), the Austrian composer and conductor Walter Penske (1895-1967), and the American artist and sculptor Richard Penske (1920-1998).

While the Penske name has its origins in Germany, it has since spread to various parts of the world, with Penske families now residing in countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Penske

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

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

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

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