Explore the Family Name Shenk

The meaning of Shenk

1. Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Schenk 2. 2. Americanized form of German Schenk or Czech and Slovenian Šenk (see Senk).

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname Shenk has seen a slight decrease in rank from 2000 to 2010, moving from 9118 to 9778, indicating a change of -7.24%. However, the count of people bearing the surname has increased by 0.7% over the same period, growing from 3291 to 3314. The proportion of people with this surname per 100k also decreased slightly by 8.2% from 1.22 to 1.12.

20002010Change
Rank#9,118#9,778-7.24%
Count3,2913,3140.7%
Proportion per 100k1.221.12-8.2%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Shenk

The ethnic identity associated with the surname Shenk shifted somewhat between 2000 and 2010, according to the Decennial U.S. Census. The percentage of those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander and American Indian and Alaskan Native saw significant decreases of 47.83% and 54.55% respectively. On the other hand, those identifying as two or more races and Hispanic saw increases of 83.61% and 74.22% respectively. A slight decrease of 0.70% was observed among those identifying as White, while the Black community saw a decrease of 22.22%.

20002010Change
White96.35%95.68%-0.7%
Hispanic1.28%2.23%74.22%
Two or More Races0.61%1.12%83.61%
Asian/Pacific Islander1.15%0.6%-47.83%
Black0.27%0.21%-22.22%
American Indian and Alaskan Native0.33%0.15%-54.55%

Shenk ancestry composition

23andMe computes an ancestry breakdown for each customer. People may have ancestry from just one population or they may have ancestry from several populations. The most commonly-observed ancestry found in people with the surname Shenk is French & German, which comprises 50.8% of all ancestry found in people with the surname. The next two most common ancestries are British & Irish (29.4%) and Eastern European (3.7%). Additional ancestries include Italian, Ashkenazi Jewish, Scandinavian, Spanish & Portuguese, and Chinese.

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ANCESTRY BREAKDOWNCOMPOSITION
French & German50.8%
British & Irish29.4%
Eastern European3.7%
Other16.1%
Shenk

Possible origins of the surname Shenk

Your DNA provides clues about where your recent ancestors may have lived. Having many distant relatives in the same location suggests that you may all share common ancestry there. Locations with many distant relatives can also be places where people have migrated recently, such as large cities. If a large number of individuals who share your surname have distant relatives in a specific area, it could indicate a connection between your surname and that location, stemming from either recent ancestral ties or migration.

Based on 23andMe data, people with last name Shenk have recent ancestry locations in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Ireland.

RECENT ANCESTRY LocationPercentage
Greater London, United Kingdom71.60%
Glasgow City, United Kingdom71.60%
Greater Manchester, United Kingdom71.60%
West Midlands, United Kingdom71.60%
Tyne And Wear, United Kingdom71.60%

What Shenk haplogroups can tell you

Haplogroups are genetic population groups that share a common ancestor on either your paternal or maternal line. These paternal and maternal haplogroups shed light on your genetic ancestry and help tell the story of your family.

The top paternal haplogroup of people with the surname Shenk is O-F2415, which is predominantly found among people with East Asian & Indigenous American ancestry. Haplogroup O-F2415 is descended from haplogroup O-M1359. Other common haplogroups include E-M183 and O-F2859, which are predominantly found among people with European and East Asian & Indigenous American ancestry.

The most common maternal haplogroups of people with Shenk surname are: U5, H1, H. These most commonly trace back to individuals of European ancestry.

shenkPaternal Haplogroup Origins O-M1359
Paternal Haplo Image

Your paternal lineage may be linked to the Cham

One of the many populations harboring members of haplogroup O1b1a1a1a1 is the Cham ethnic group, a group of people who speak Austronesian languages in Mainland Southeast Asia. Austronesian languages make up a language family that is extremely large and widespread, comprising over 350 million people on islands such as Madagascar, Easter Island, and many others. However, Austronesian languages are less common on mainland Asia, with a notable exception being the Chamic language. Research suggests that ancestors of the Cham people migrated from Southeast Asian islands to the mainland around the year 500 BCE, and that early Cham populations quickly began mixing with indigenous southern Vietnamese populations. As a result, the Chamic language now has words that were borrowed from languages spoken by indigenous Vietnamese people. It is likely that an ancestral Kinh population was one of the populations that mixed with the Cham people shortly after their migration to mainland Asia.

Your maternal lineage may be linked to the nomadic Tuareg of the Sahara

Though haplogroup H1 rarely reaches high frequencies beyond western Europe, over 60% of eastern Tuareg in Libya belong to haplogroup H1. The Tuareg call themselves the Imazghan, meaning “free people.” They are an isolated, semi-nomadic people who inhabit the West-Central Sahara and are known today for a distinctive dark blue turban worn by the men, and for their long history as gatekeepers of the desert.How did women carrying H1 make it all the way from western Europe to this isolated community? They likely migrated from Spain across the Strait of Gibraltar into Morocco after the Last Ice Age, where they were assimilated into the Berbers of the Mediterranean coast. Then, about 5,000 years ago, the Sahara shifted from a period of relative habitable conditions to its dramatically arid desert environment. This shift may have caused migrations throughout the Sahara, prompting the ancient Tuaregs to meet and mingle with the Berbers, bringing H1 lineages into their population.

Maternal Haplo Image

What do people with the surname Shenk have in common?

Spoiler alert: it's complicated. People with the same last name are usually no more genetically similar than a randomly sampled group of people from the same population. That said, people with the same surname are more likely to have similar ancestries than randomly sampled individuals. The reason is the tendency of people with similar cultural or geographical backgrounds to preferentially mate with one another. That's why people who share a surname may be more likely to share traits and tendencies in common than people within the general population. Check out the percentages below to see the prevalences of tastes, habits, and traits of people with your surname compared with prevalences among 23andMe users.

Preferences

Shenk

Chocolate Ice Cream

Prefers chocolate flavored ice cream over other flavors.

"Shenk" Surname 47.8%

23andMe Users 41.3%

Traits

Shenk

Cheek Dimples

Small indentations that appear on the cheeks when a person smiles.

"Shenk" Surname 45.5%

23andMe Users 37.6%

Habits

Shenk

Sugary Drink

Drinks one or more sugary drinks per day.

"Shenk" Surname 24.1%

23andMe Users 21.1%

Wellness

Shenk

Migraine

A severe headache characterized by intense pain, sensitivity to light and sound, and often accompanied by nausea and vomiting.

"Shenk" Surname 17.7%

23andMe Users 16.4%

Are health conditions linked to the last name Shenk?

The short answer is that, if there is an association between surname and health, it's usually more about your ancestry than your name. Individuals with a given surname are no more genetically similar than the general population but often have similar ancestries. The populations of people associated with those shared ancestries often have sets of genetic variations, also known as alleles, in common. Some of those alleles are associated with a greater likelihood of developing certain diseases.

Disease variant frequency by ancestry

Disease allele frequencies in populations associated with the surname Shenk are shown below. Important Note: not everyone with a disease allele will develop these health condition

Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Y402H variant

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the most common cause of irreversible vision loss among older adults. The disease results in damage to the central part of the retina (the macula), impairing vision needed for reading, driving, or even recognizing faces. The 23andMe Health + Ancestry DNA test includes the two most common variants associated with an increased risk of developing the condition: the Y402H variant in the CFH gene and the A69S variant in the ARMS2 gene. Learn more about Age-Related Macular Degeneration

French & German 60.8%

23andMe Users 57.2%