Explore the Family Name Zeleke

The meaning of Zeleke

Ethiopian: from the personal name Zeleke, which is interpreted as e.g. ‘he surpassed’ in the Amharic language. — Note: Since Ethiopians do not have hereditary surnames, this name was registered as such only after immigration of its bearers to the US.

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

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

Based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname Zeleke has significantly increased in the United States between 2000 and 2010. The rank of the name improved from 99,725th in 2000 to 45,569th in 2010, an increase of 54.31%. In terms of absolute numbers, people with the surname Zeleke went from 168 in 2000 to 469 in 2010, showing a remarkable rise of 179.17%. The proportion of individuals named Zeleke per 100,000 people also saw a considerable jump of 166.67% over the same period.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#99,725	#45,569	54.31%
Count	168	469	179.17%
Proportion per 100k	0.06	0.16	166.67%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Zeleke

Looking at the ethnic identity associated with the surname Zeleke as depicted by the Decennial U.S. Census data, it is primarily identified with the Black community. The percentage of this association rose from 84.52% in 2000 to 95.74% in 2010. The surname was also linked with people identifying with two or more races in 2000 at 11.90%, but this connection declined sharply to 1.71% in 2010. There was a slight emergence of the surname within the White community in 2010 at 1.92%, where it was non-existent in 2000. No associations were seen with the Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander, and American Indian and Alaskan Native communities during these years.

	2000	2010	Change
Black	84.52%	95.74%	13.27%
White	0%	1.92%	0%
Two or More Races	11.9%	1.71%	-85.63%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Hispanic	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%