Explore the Family Name Elke

The meaning of Elke

1. English (West Midlands): from the Middle English personal name Elke, a shortened form of the West Midlands name Elcock (from the Middle English personal name Elcok) or possibly of Elkin, each of which are pet forms of Eli(a)s. In early modern English this surname was interchangeable with the more common Elks. 2. German: from the ancient Germanic personal name Alacho, a short form of compound names based on the element alah ‘shrine’.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Elke in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Elke saw a decline in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it was ranked the 81,700th most common surname, but by 2010 it fell to 92,719th, marking a decrease of 13.49%. The number of individuals carrying the Elke name also decreased during this period from 215 to 198, a drop of approximately 7.91%. Despite this decline, the proportion of people with the surname Elke per 100,000 population only slightly decreased from 0.08 to 0.07.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#81,700	#92,719	-13.49%
Count	215	198	-7.91%
Proportion per 100k	0.08	0.07	-12.5%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Elke

In terms of ethnicity, the Decennial U.S. Census data shows that the vast majority of individuals with the Elke surname identify as white. In 2000, 98.14% of those with the Elke surname identified as white, and this figure slightly reduced to 95.96% in 2010. There were no reported instances of individuals with the Elke surname identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander, of two or more races, Hispanic, Black, or American Indian and Alaskan Native in either 2000 or 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
White	98.14%	95.96%	-2.22%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Two or More Races	0%	0%	0%
Hispanic	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%