Explore the Family Name Erk

The meaning of Erk

1. German: from a short form of Erkenbert or Erkenbrecht, an ancient Germanic personal name composed of the elements erkan ‘pure, perfect’ + berht ‘bright, famous’. 2. Possibly also Dutch (Van Erk): habitational name for someone from Herk-de-Stad or St.-Lambrechts-Herk in the province of Limburg, Belgium. Compare Erck. Some characteristic forenames: German Bernhardt, Georg.

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

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

According to the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Erk had a slight decrease in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, Erk was ranked as the 57,406th most popular surname, but by 2010, it had slipped slightly to 60,960th place - a change of -6.19%. The number of people with the surname also saw a minor reduction, from 332 in 2000 to 330 in 2010, a decrease of 0.6%. This decrease is reflected in the proportion of people per 100,000 with the surname, which dropped from 0.12 in 2000 to 0.11 in 2010, an 8.33% decrease.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#57,406	#60,960	-6.19%
Count	332	330	-0.6%
Proportion per 100k	0.12	0.11	-8.33%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Erk

In terms of ethnicity, the data from the Decennial U.S. Census shows that individuals with the surname Erk predominantly identify as White. In 2000, 98.49% identified themselves as White, decreasing slightly to 97.27% in 2010. No individuals with this surname identified as Asian/Pacific Islander, Two or more races, Black, or American Indian/Alaskan Native in either year. However, there was a small emergence of individuals identifying as Hispanic in 2010, at 1.52%, where there were none reported in 2000.

	2000	2010	Change
White	98.49%	97.27%	-1.24%
Hispanic	0%	1.52%	0%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Two or More Races	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%