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

Roepke, 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 Roepke surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Roepke in America

Roepke is the 20299th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Roepke surname appeared 1,310 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 Roepke.

We can also compare 2010 data for Roepke 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 Roepke

The surname Roepke has its origins in Germany, with the earliest recorded instances dating back to the 16th century. It is believed to have originated as a variant of the German word "Rohr," which means "reed" or "cane." This suggests that the name may have been an occupational surname initially given to those who worked with reeds, such as basket weavers or thatchers.

One of the earliest known records of the name Roepke can be found in the parish registers of the town of Rostock, in northern Germany, from the year 1587. The entry mentions a certain "Hans Roepke," who was a local farmer. This early spelling variation, "Roepke," likely emerged as a result of regional dialect differences in pronunciation and orthography.

As the name spread across Germany, it also took on various other spellings, such as "Röpke," "Röpcke," and "Ropke." These variations were often influenced by local dialects and scribal practices of the time.

In the 17th century, the name Roepke appears in several historical documents from the region of Mecklenburg, in northern Germany. One notable example is the record of a "Johann Roepke," who was a merchant and landowner in the town of Güstrow in the early 1600s.

The 18th century saw the emergence of several prominent individuals with the surname Roepke. One such figure was Johann Georg Roepke (1737-1807), a German theologian and philosopher who served as a professor at the University of Rostock.

In the 19th century, the name gained wider recognition with the birth of Wilhelm Roepke (1882-1966), a renowned German economist and sociologist. He was a proponent of the social market economy and played a key role in shaping Germany's post-World War II economic policies.

Another notable figure from this era was Ernst Roepke (1884-1951), a German actor and theater director who worked extensively in both Germany and Austria. He was particularly known for his performances in classical plays by authors like Goethe and Schiller.

As the name Roepke spread beyond Germany, it also found its way into other parts of Europe and even the Americas. One example is Horst Roepke (1929-2017), a German-American computer scientist who made significant contributions to the field of compiler design and optimization.

While the surname Roepke is predominantly found in Germany and other German-speaking regions, it has also been adopted by families in countries such as the United States, Canada, and Australia, often due to immigration from Germany in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Roepke

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!