Explore the Family Name Polke

The meaning of Polke

1. Altered form of Scottish Polk. 2. East German (of Slavic origin): from a Silesian pet form of the Polish personal name Bolesław, the name of several Silesian dukes, based on the Slavic element bol, meaning ‘greater, better’ or ‘more’ (from Old Slavic bolъ).

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Polke saw an increase in popularity between 2000 and 2010. Ranked 66,878th in 2000, it jumped to the 62,714th spot by 2010, marking a 6.23% increase. In terms of count, the number of people with the Polke surname grew from 276 to 319 during this period, which constitutes a 15.58% rise. The proportion of this surname per 100k people also increased by 10%, from 0.1 in 2000 to 0.11 in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#66,878	#62,714	6.23%
Count	276	319	15.58%
Proportion per 100k	0.1	0.11	10%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Polke

When it comes to ethnicity, the data from the Decennial U.S. Census shows that the majority of individuals with the Polke surname identified as white, making up 59.78% in 2000 and slightly dipping to 57.05% in 2010. Notably, there was a small increase in those identifying as black, from 35.87% in 2000 to 36.68% in 2010. The data also indicates a slight rise in those reporting two or more ethnicities, increasing from 3.26% to 3.76%. Additionally, the census for the first time recorded individuals with this surname identifying as Hispanic in 2010. There were no individuals who identified as Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian and Alaskan Native during these years.

	2000	2010	Change
White	59.78%	57.05%	-4.57%
Black	35.87%	36.68%	2.26%
Two or More Races	3.26%	3.76%	15.34%
Hispanic	0%	1.57%	0%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%