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

Plank, 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 Plank surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Plank in America

Plank is the 5331st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Plank surname appeared 6,534 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 Plank.

We can also compare 2010 data for Plank 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 Plank

The surname Plank originated in Germany and dates back to the Middle Ages. It is derived from the German word 'planke', meaning a wooden plank or board. The name likely referred to someone who worked with wood or lived near a wooden structure or bridge.

Plank is an occupational surname, indicating the trade or profession of an ancestor. In medieval times, occupational surnames were commonly adopted to distinguish people in the same village or town. The surname Plank likely identified an individual as a carpenter, joiner, or someone involved in the construction or maintenance of wooden structures.

The earliest recorded instances of the surname Plank can be traced back to the 13th and 14th centuries in various regions of Germany, including Bavaria, Saxony, and the Rhineland. Some of the earliest documented examples include Henricus Planke in Cologne in 1292 and Hermannus Planke in Mainz in 1311.

During the late Middle Ages and Renaissance period, the surname Plank appeared in various records and manuscripts across Germany. For instance, Johannes Plank was mentioned in a document from Nuremberg in 1487, while a certain Hans Plank was recorded in a manuscript from Augsburg in 1524.

Several notable individuals throughout history have borne the surname Plank. One example is Robert Plank (1516-1576), a German jurist and legal scholar from Nuremberg, who was influential in the development of German civil law. Another is Johann Plank (1537-1590), a German theologian and reformer from Augsburg.

In the 17th century, Georg Plank (1625-1697) was a German architect and engineer who designed several notable buildings in Würzburg and other cities. Later, in the 19th century, Johann Plank (1819-1900) was a German physicist and professor at the University of Munich, known for his contributions to the field of thermodynamics.

Another notable individual was Max Plank (1858-1947), a German theoretical physicist who originated quantum theory and received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918. Although the spelling of his surname differed slightly, it likely derived from the same occupational root.

Overall, the surname Plank has a rich history spanning several centuries and is deeply rooted in Germanic culture and language. Its occupational origins reflect the importance of woodworking and construction in medieval times, and the name has been carried by numerous individuals of note throughout the years.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Plank

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

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

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

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