2000
#9,962
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,988
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.11
Rare Last name
Runkle
A German occupational surname referring to a turnip grower or seller, derived from the Middle High German "runkël."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,297 Americans carry the last name Runkle. That puts it at #10,625 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.96 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 103,959 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Runkle surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
3.3K
1 in 103,959
Census rank
#10,625
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.9K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,875 bearers of the surname Runkle in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.96 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 10625th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Runkle, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.2%) and Hispanic (2.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Runkle
The surname Runkle originated in the German region of Hesse in the 13th century. It is derived from the Old German word "runce," meaning a small stream or brook. This suggests that the name likely referred to someone who lived near a small body of water or a particular stream.
In the early records, the name appears with various spellings such as Runkel, Runckel, and Runckle. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name is found in the Würzburg archives from 1290, where a certain Hermann Runckel is mentioned as a resident of the city.
The Runkle name can also be traced back to the town of Runkel, located in the Lahn Valley of Hesse. This town was first documented in a 1231 record, and it's believed that the surname may have originated from this place name.
In the 14th century, the name appears in the historic Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae, a collection of diplomatic documents from Saxony. A man named Conradus Runkel is mentioned in an entry from 1378.
One of the earliest recorded bearers of the Runkle name is Johann Runkle, a merchant from Nuremberg who lived in the late 15th century. Another notable figure was Christoph Runkle, a German theologian and reformer born in 1522 in Stettin, Pomerania (now Szczecin, Poland).
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Runkle name spread across various regions of Germany, with families settling in areas such as Bavaria, Saxony, and Württemberg. In the 18th century, some Runkle families emigrated to North America, settling in Pennsylvania and other parts of the United States.
A prominent American bearer of the Runkle name was John Daniel Runkle, born in 1822 in Root, Montgomery County, New York. He was a mathematician, educator, and the second president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from 1870 to 1878.
Another notable individual was Bertha Runkle, an American activist born in 1879 in Waterloo, Indiana. She was a prominent figure in the women's suffrage movement and worked alongside Susan B. Anthony and Ida B. Wells.
In the 19th century, the Runkle surname can be found in various historical records, including census records and military records from the American Civil War. Some examples include Jacob Runkle, born in 1832 in Pennsylvania, who served as a captain in the Union Army, and William Runkle, born in 1838 in Ohio, who fought in the Battle of Gettysburg.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Runkle
Among Census respondents with the surname Runkle, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.2%) and Hispanic (2.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Runkle bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Runkle surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.1% · 2,648
- Two or more races3.2% · 93
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 82
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 24
- Black or African American0.6% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 11
Timeline
Historical Census data for Runkle
Runkle appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#10,686
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,991
+3 bearers (+0.1%)
Per 100,000 1.01
Rank movement Down 724 places
2020
#10,625
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,875
-116 bearers (-3.9%)
Per 100,000 0.96
Rank movement Up 61 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #9,962 | 2,988 | 1.11 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #10,686 | 2,991 | 1.01 | +3 bearers (+0.1%) | Down 724 places |
| 2020 | #10,625 | 2,875 | 0.96 | -116 bearers (-3.9%) | Up 61 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Runkle surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #10,686 | #10,625 | 0.6% |
| Count | 2,991 | 2,875 | -3.9% |
| Per 100K | 1.01 | 0.96 | -4.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Runkle bearers went from 2,991 to 2,875 (-3.9% change). The surname moved up 61 positions in the national ranking, going from #10,686 to #10,625.
FAQ
Runkle surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Runkle?
Name Census estimates that about 3,297 living Americans carry the surname Runkle. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 103,959 residents.
How common is Runkle?
Runkle ranks #10,625 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.96 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,875 people with the surname Runkle. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,297), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.96 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.96 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Runkle.
Has Runkle become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Runkle went from 2,991 recorded bearers to 2,875. That is a decrease of 116 (-3.9%). In the national ranking it rose from #10,686 to #10,625.
What does the Census say about the background of Runkle?
Among Census respondents with the surname Runkle, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.2%) and Hispanic (2.9%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Runkle in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.1% (2,648 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Runkle appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.1%), Two or More Races (3.2%), Hispanic (2.9%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Runkle (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Runkle mean?
A German occupational surname referring to a turnip grower or seller, derived from the Middle High German "runkël." The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Runkle (0.96 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people are called Runkle?
You can see how many people have the surname Runkle on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.