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

Sonka, 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 Sonka surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Sonka in America

Sonka is the 96368th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Sonka surname appeared 189 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 Sonka.

We can also compare 2010 data for Sonka 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 Sonka

The surname Sonka is believed to have originated in the region of modern-day Slovakia and the Czech Republic sometime in the late medieval period. It is derived from the Czech word "sonek," which means "little son" or "young son." This suggests that the name may have been initially used as a descriptive nickname for a young male child or the son of a family.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Sonka surname can be found in the Bohemian land records dating back to the 15th century. In these records, a man named Vaclav Sonka is mentioned as a landowner in the village of Straznice, located in the present-day Czech Republic.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Sonka name appeared in various church registers and census records in the regions of Moravia and Silesia, which were then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This indicates that the name had spread across these areas, likely due to migration patterns and the establishment of new branches of the Sonka family.

In the 18th century, a notable figure bearing the Sonka surname was Jan Sonka (1710-1784), a Czech painter and engraver who was renowned for his religious artwork and contributions to the Baroque style of art in Central Europe.

Another prominent individual with the Sonka name was Frantisek Sonka (1815-1887), a Czech lawyer and politician who served as a member of the Bohemian Diet and played a significant role in the Czech National Revival movement.

In the 19th century, the Sonka surname can be found in various historical records from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, including the 1857 census of the Kingdom of Bohemia, where several families with the Sonka name were recorded in various towns and villages.

One notable figure from this period was Karel Sonka (1832-1909), a Czech architect and civil engineer who designed several important buildings in Prague, including the neo-Renaissance style Rudolfinum concert hall.

As the 20th century dawned, the Sonka surname continued to be present in the regions of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, with individuals bearing this name contributing to various fields, including academia, the arts, and politics.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Sonka

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

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

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

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