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

Shank, 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 Shank surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Shank in America

Shank is the 2700th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Shank surname appeared 13,343 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 5 people would have the surname Shank.

We can also compare 2010 data for Shank 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 Shank

The surname Shank is of Anglo-Saxon origin, deriving from the Old English word "scanc" or "scanca", which means "leg" or "shank". The name first appeared in England during the early medieval period, around the 7th or 8th century AD.

The earliest known bearers of the Shank surname were likely concentrated in the northern and midland counties of England, where Anglo-Saxon settlements were prevalent. The name may have originated as a nickname, referring to a person with particularly long or slender legs.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Shank surname can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as "Schanc" and "Scancus". This suggests that the name was well-established in England by the time of the Norman Conquest in 1066.

In the 13th century, the name was recorded as "Schank" in the Curia Regis Rolls of Worcestershire. This spelling variation highlights the evolving nature of surnames during the Middle Ages, as they transitioned from descriptive nicknames to hereditary family names.

Notable historical figures bearing the Shank surname include:

1. John Shank (c. 1545 - 1608), an English Catholic martyr who was executed for his faith during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.
2. Benjamin Shank (1734 - 1801), an American frontier settler and founder of Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
3. David Shank (1801 - 1859), an American bishop and leader in the River Brethren Church.
4. Ephraim Shank (1805 - 1881), an American bishop of the Old Order River Brethren.
5. Samuel Shank (1856 - 1924), a British politician and Member of Parliament for Leeds North East from 1906 to 1918.

The Shank surname has also been associated with various place names, such as Shankill in Ireland and Shankton in Scotland, which may have influenced the development and spread of the name in those regions.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Shank

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

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

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

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