Explore the Family Name Onken

The meaning of Onken

East Frisian and North German: patronymic from Onke, a pet form of the Frisian personal name Onne. Compare Oncken. Some characteristic forenames: German Bernhard, Erwin, Frieda, Fritz, Hermann, Kurt, Reinold.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Onken experienced a minor decrease between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it was the 20,087th most common surname, but by 2010, it had dropped to 21,413th. This represents a 6.6% decrease in its ranking. Furthermore, the number of individuals with this surname also declined slightly from 1,235 in 2000 to 1,221 in 2010, representing a 1.13% decrease. The proportion of this surname per 100,000 people also decreased from 0.46 in 2000 to 0.41 in 2010, marking a 10.87% decline.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#20,087	#21,413	-6.6%
Count	1,235	1,221	-1.13%
Proportion per 100k	0.46	0.41	-10.87%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Onken

As for the ethnic identity associated with the surname Onken, according to the Decennial U.S. Census data, there was very little change from 2000 to 2010. The majority of individuals with this surname identified as White, at 97.00% in 2000, which slightly decreased to 96.15% in 2010. There were slight increases in the Asian/Pacific Islander category, going from 0.89% in 2000 to 0.98% in 2010, and the Hispanic category, which saw a significant increase from 0.49% in 2000 to 1.80% in 2010. The category of Two or more races saw a small decrease from 1.21% in 2000 to 0.98% in 2010. The Black, American Indian and Alaskan Native categories held no representation in either year.

	2000	2010	Change
White	97%	96.15%	-0.88%
Hispanic	0.49%	1.8%	267.35%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.89%	0.98%	10.11%
Two or More Races	1.21%	0.98%	-19.01%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%