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

Rathke, 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 Rathke surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Rathke in America

Rathke is the 21625th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Rathke surname appeared 1,206 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 Rathke.

We can also compare 2010 data for Rathke 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 Rathke

The surname Rathke is of German origin, derived from the Middle Low German word "Rad," meaning "council" or "gathering." It is believed to have emerged in the 13th or 14th century and was likely used as a descriptive name for someone who participated in local councils or assemblies.

The name Rathke has been recorded in various historical documents, including the Bremisches Urkundenbuch, a collection of medieval records from the city of Bremen, where the name appeared as early as 1335. Another early reference can be found in the Lübecker Oberstadtbuch, a register from the city of Lübeck, which mentions a person named Hinric Rathke in 1391.

One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Nikolaus Rathke, a German theologian and reformer born in 1482 in Pomerania. He studied at the University of Wittenberg and later became a follower of Martin Luther, contributing to the spread of the Protestant Reformation in northern Germany.

In the 16th century, the name Rathke was also associated with the town of Ratzeburg in the present-day German state of Schleswig-Holstein. The town's name, derived from the Slavic word "Ratibor," meaning "council city," may have influenced the spelling and pronunciation of the surname Rathke in that region.

Another notable figure was Johann Rathke, a German mathematician and astronomer born in 1592 in the town of Stendal. He made significant contributions to the study of logarithms and published several works on astronomy and mathematics during his lifetime.

In the 18th century, Johann Justus Rathke, a German jurist and legal scholar born in 1737 in Lübeck, gained recognition for his writings on civil law and legal reform. His works were widely studied and influential in the field of jurisprudence.

The name Rathke has also been associated with several places in Germany, such as Rathkewitz, a village in Saxony, and Rathkestraße, a street in the city of Berlin, which may have been named after individuals bearing the surname.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Rathke

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

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

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

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