Explore the Family Name Yonker

The meaning of Yonker

Americanized form of Dutch Jonker. History: Jonker (actually Jonkheer) was the title given to Adriaen van der Donck for his service in ending the 1643–5 Indian war in New Netherland (now NY); out of gratitude he was given a tract of land north of Manhattan that is now known as Yonkers. As far as is known Adriaen van der Donck had no children when he died in 1655.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Yonker displayed a slight increase in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it was ranked the 14,599th most popular surname, moving up to the 14,468th position in 2010, representing a 0.9% change. The count of people bearing this surname increased by 10.37% from 1,870 in 2000 to 2,064 in 2010. This has also led to an increase in its proportion per 100k population from 0.69 in 2000 to 0.7 in 2010.

20002010Change
Rank#14,599#14,4680.9%
Count1,8702,06410.37%
Proportion per 100k0.690.71.45%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Yonker

In terms of ethnicity, the data from the Decennial U.S. Census indicates that there were some changes in the ethnic identity of those with the Yonker surname between 2000 and 2010. The White demographic remains the majority, albeit witnessing a small decline from 95.83% in 2000 to 93.80% in 2010. During the same period, individuals identifying as Hispanic and Black saw increases of 47.46% and 11.87% respectively. Notably, the proportion of those identifying as two or more races increased significantly by 113.33%. Although the Asian/Pacific Islander and American Indian and Alaskan Native categories had an absence of representation in 2000, they began to appear in 2010, accounting for 0.78% and 0.29%, respectively.

20002010Change
White95.83%93.8%-2.12%
Black1.6%1.79%11.87%
Hispanic1.18%1.74%47.46%
Two or More Races0.75%1.6%113.33%
Asian/Pacific Islander0%0.78%0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native0%0.29%0%