Explore the Family Name Wernke

The meaning of Wernke

German: shortened form of Wernecke.

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

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

According to the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Wernke has seen a slight decrease in popularity over the decade from 2000 to 2010. In 2000, its rank stood at 59,769, and by 2010, it had shifted slightly to 59,901, representing a marginal decline of 0.22%. Similarly, the proportion of individuals with the Wernke surname per 100k people also fell from 0.12 in 2000 to 0.11 in 2010, marking an 8.33% drop. However, it is interesting to note that the overall count of people bearing the Wernke surname increased by 6.65% during this period, from 316 in 2000 to 337 in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#59,769	#59,901	-0.22%
Count	316	337	6.65%
Proportion per 100k	0.12	0.11	-8.33%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Wernke

The ethnicity distribution for the Wernke surname, as per the Decennial U.S. Census, shows overwhelming representation from white individuals. In both 2000 and 2010, approximately 96% of all Wernkes were white, although there was a small decrease of 0.72% in this demographic over the decade. The Wernke surname also had some representation within the Hispanic community, accounting for 1.58% of all Wernkes in 2000 and dropping slightly to 1.48% in 2010. This modest drop of 6.33% suggests a relatively stable distribution among Hispanics. Notably, there were no recorded instances of the Wernke surname among Asian/Pacific Islanders, those identifying with two or more races, Black individuals, or American Indian and Alaskan Natives during these years.

	2000	2010	Change
White	96.84%	96.14%	-0.72%
Hispanic	1.58%	1.48%	-6.33%
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%