Explore the Family Name Yank

The meaning of Yank

1. Americanized form of Dutch or North German Jank. 2. American shortened (and altered) form of the Ukrainian and Belorussian patronymic Yankovich and its Croatian, Serbian, Slovenian, and Slovak cognates. Compare Jank.

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

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

According to the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname 'Yank' witnessed a decrease between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, the surname held the rank of 65,862 but fell to 77,788 by 2010, a decline of about 18.11%. The number of individuals with the 'Yank' name also decreased, with a count of 281 in 2000 dropping to 246 in 2010, resulting in a reduction of approximately 12.46%. The proportion of this surname per 100,000 people also saw a drop from 0.1 in 2000 to 0.08 in 2010, a 20% decrease.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#65,862	#77,788	-18.11%
Count	281	246	-12.46%
Proportion per 100k	0.1	0.08	-20%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Yank

The ethnic identity tied to the surname 'Yank' also experienced some shifts between 2000 and 2010 as per the Decennial U.S. Census. In 2000, 92.53% of individuals with the Yank surname identified as White, however this percentage dropped slightly to 89.43% in 2010. Over the same period, those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander increased from 3.91% to 5.69%, a significant rise of 45.52%. There was also an emergence of individuals identifying with two or more races, which was non-existent in 2000 but constituted 2.03% in 2010. No changes were observed in the categories of Hispanic, Black, and American Indian and Alaskan Native ethnicities.

	2000	2010	Change
White	92.53%	89.43%	-3.35%
Asian/Pacific Islander	3.91%	5.69%	45.52%
Two or More Races	0%	2.03%	0%
Hispanic	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%