Explore the Family Name Popken

The meaning of Popken

North German (also Pöpken): patronymic from a pet form of the personal name Poppo (see Popp). Some characteristic forenames: German Erwin, Lorenz.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Popken saw a slight decrease in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, Popken was ranked 58,692nd most popular surname, though by 2010, it had dropped to 59,742nd, representing a 1.79% change. Despite the drop in rank, the actual count of individuals with the Popken surname increased from 323 people in 2000 to 338 in 2010, an increase of 4.64%. However, when looking at the proportion per 100,000 people, there was a minor decrease from 0.12 in 2000 to 0.11 in 2010, marking an 8.33% reduction.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#58,692	#59,742	-1.79%
Count	323	338	4.64%
Proportion per 100k	0.12	0.11	-8.33%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Popken

In terms of ethnic identity, the data from the Decennial U.S. Census shows some changes for those with the Popken surname between 2000 and 2010. The percentage of those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander saw an increase from 1.86% in 2000 to 2.37% in 2010, a change of 27.42%. Interestingly, the census recorded no individuals identifying as two or more races in 2000, but by 2010, this made up 2.07% of people with the Popken surname. The majority of Popkens identified as White, with percentages of 95.67% and 93.49% in 2000 and 2010 respectively, indicating a minor decrease of 2.28%. There were also small increases in the Hispanic community (from 0% to 1.48%), while the data showed no Popkens identifying as Black or American Indian and Alaskan Native in either year.

	2000	2010	Change
White	95.67%	93.49%	-2.28%
Asian/Pacific Islander	1.86%	2.37%	27.42%
Two or More Races	0%	2.07%	0%
Hispanic	0%	1.48%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%