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

Rasnake, 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 Rasnake surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Rasnake in America

Rasnake is the 21237th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Rasnake surname appeared 1,235 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 Rasnake.

We can also compare 2010 data for Rasnake 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 Rasnake

The surname Rasnake is believed to have originated in the English county of Yorkshire during the medieval period. It is thought to be a locational name derived from a now-lost place name that may have been spelled Raseneic or Rasen-ac, which likely meant "marsh-oak" or "oak by the marsh" in Old English.

The earliest recorded instance of the surname Rasnake appears in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it is listed as Raseneic. This suggests that the name predates the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 and has Anglo-Saxon roots.

By the 13th century, the name had evolved to its modern spelling of Rasnake, as evidenced by records from the time. One notable early bearer of the name was Robert Rasnake, who was a landowner in the village of Raskelf, Yorkshire, in the year 1275.

In the 16th century, the Rasnake family had established a presence in the nearby county of Lincolnshire. A John Rasnake, born in 1534, was a prominent merchant and alderman in the city of Lincoln during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

As the Rasnake family spread throughout England, they also adopted variant spellings of the name, such as Rastnick, Rastnake, and Rastneck. One such variant was borne by Sir William Rastnick, a military officer who fought in the English Civil War during the 1640s and was knighted for his service to King Charles I.

In the 18th century, the Rasnake name found its way to the American colonies, where it became particularly prevalent in the Appalachian region. Among the earliest Rasnakes in America was James Rasnake, who was born in Virginia in 1712 and later settled in what is now eastern Tennessee.

Other notable individuals with the surname Rasnake include:

1. John Rasnake (1805-1878), a farmer and community leader in Russell County, Virginia.
2. Elizabeth Rasnake (1830-1912), a pioneer midwife and herbalist in Carter County, Tennessee.
3. Samuel Rasnake (1856-1942), a Union Army veteran and one of the first settlers in Swain County, North Carolina.
4. Mary Rasnake (1889-1976), a celebrated quilter and folk artist from Johnson County, Tennessee.
5. James Rasnake (1920-2003), a World War II veteran and recipient of the Purple Heart, who later became a successful businessman in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Rasnake

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

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

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

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