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

Roethke, 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 Roethke surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Roethke in America

Roethke is the 138304th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Roethke surname appeared 121 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 Roethke.

We can also compare 2010 data for Roethke 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 Roethke

The surname Roethke has its origins in Germany, and it is believed to have emerged during the Middle Ages. The name is derived from the Old German word "rothe," which means "red" or "ruddy." It is thought to have been a descriptive surname initially used to refer to someone with reddish or ruddy complexion or hair color.

One of the earliest recorded references to the surname Roethke can be found in the German town of Rostock, where a person named Henricus Roethke was mentioned in a document dated 1336. It is speculated that the name may have originated in this region, and over time, it spread to other parts of Germany and neighboring countries.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the name Roethke appeared in various records and manuscripts across German-speaking regions. For instance, a man named Johann Roethke was recorded as a landowner in the town of Halle in 1587. Another notable mention is of a merchant named Hans Roethke, who was active in the city of Hamburg in the early 1600s.

One of the earliest individuals of significance bearing the surname Roethke was Friedrich Wilhelm Roethke, a German composer and organist who lived from 1687 to 1745. He was renowned for his contributions to the development of Lutheran church music during the Baroque period.

In the 19th century, the name Roethke became associated with several notable figures. One of them was Georg Roethke, a German politician and writer who was born in 1817 and played a significant role in the democratic movements of his time.

Another prominent individual with this surname was Theodore Roethke, an American poet who was born in 1908 and won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1954 for his work "The Waking." He is widely regarded as one of the most influential poets of the 20th century.

Other individuals of note with the surname Roethke include:

1. Johann Roethke (1815-1879), a German philosopher and theologian.
2. Karl Roethke (1855-1922), a German architect known for his contributions to the Historicist style.
3. Erich Roethke (1888-1966), a German sculptor and painter associated with the Expressionist movement.
4. Helmut Roethke (1920-1998), a German writer and translator who specialized in works related to ancient Greek literature.
5. Molly Roethke (1887-1976), an American artist and the wife of the poet Theodore Roethke.

It is worth noting that variations in the spelling of the surname, such as Röthke or Roetke, have also been observed throughout history, reflecting regional differences in pronunciation and orthography.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Roethke

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

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

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

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