2000
#5,162
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,235
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.31
Rare Last name
Plank
An occupational surname referring to a carpenter or woodworker who specialized in making planks or wooden boards.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 7,170 Americans carry the last name Plank. That puts it at #5,383 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.09 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 47,804 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Plank surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Plank with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
7.2K
1 in 47,804
Census rank
#5,383
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.1
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
6.3K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 6,253 bearers of the surname Plank in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.09 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 5383rd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Plank, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.5%) and Hispanic (2.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Plank
The surname Plank originated in Germany and dates back to the Middle Ages. It is derived from the German word 'planke', meaning a wooden plank or board. The name likely referred to someone who worked with wood or lived near a wooden structure or bridge.
Plank is an occupational surname, indicating the trade or profession of an ancestor. In medieval times, occupational surnames were commonly adopted to distinguish people in the same village or town. The surname Plank likely identified an individual as a carpenter, joiner, or someone involved in the construction or maintenance of wooden structures.
The earliest recorded instances of the surname Plank can be traced back to the 13th and 14th centuries in various regions of Germany, including Bavaria, Saxony, and the Rhineland. Some of the earliest documented examples include Henricus Planke in Cologne in 1292 and Hermannus Planke in Mainz in 1311.
During the late Middle Ages and Renaissance period, the surname Plank appeared in various records and manuscripts across Germany. For instance, Johannes Plank was mentioned in a document from Nuremberg in 1487, while a certain Hans Plank was recorded in a manuscript from Augsburg in 1524.
Several notable individuals throughout history have borne the surname Plank. One example is Robert Plank (1516-1576), a German jurist and legal scholar from Nuremberg, who was influential in the development of German civil law. Another is Johann Plank (1537-1590), a German theologian and reformer from Augsburg.
In the 17th century, Georg Plank (1625-1697) was a German architect and engineer who designed several notable buildings in Würzburg and other cities. Later, in the 19th century, Johann Plank (1819-1900) was a German physicist and professor at the University of Munich, known for his contributions to the field of thermodynamics.
Another notable individual was Max Plank (1858-1947), a German theoretical physicist who originated quantum theory and received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918. Although the spelling of his surname differed slightly, it likely derived from the same occupational root.
Overall, the surname Plank has a rich history spanning several centuries and is deeply rooted in Germanic culture and language. Its occupational origins reflect the importance of woodworking and construction in medieval times, and the name has been carried by numerous individuals of note throughout the years.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Plank
Among Census respondents with the surname Plank, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.5%) and Hispanic (2.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Plank bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Plank surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.2% · 5,765
- Two or more races3.5% · 218
- Hispanic or Latino2.7% · 169
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 45
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 39
- Black or African American0.3% · 17
Timeline
Historical Census data for Plank
Plank appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#5,331
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,534
+299 bearers (+4.8%)
Per 100,000 2.22
Rank movement Down 169 places
2020
#5,383
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,253
-281 bearers (-4.3%)
Per 100,000 2.09
Rank movement Down 52 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #5,162 | 6,235 | 2.31 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #5,331 | 6,534 | 2.22 | +299 bearers (+4.8%) | Down 169 places |
| 2020 | #5,383 | 6,253 | 2.09 | -281 bearers (-4.3%) | Down 52 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Plank surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #5,331 | #5,383 | -1.0% |
| Count | 6,534 | 6,253 | -4.3% |
| Per 100K | 2.22 | 2.09 | -5.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Plank bearers went from 6,534 to 6,253 (-4.3% change). The surname moved down 52 positions in the national ranking, going from #5,331 to #5,383.
FAQ
Plank surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Plank?
Name Census estimates that about 7,170 living Americans carry the surname Plank. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 47,804 residents.
How common is Plank?
Plank ranks #5,383 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.09 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 6,253 people with the surname Plank. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (7,170), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2.09 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.09 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Plank.
Has Plank become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Plank went from 6,534 recorded bearers to 6,253. That is a decrease of 281 (-4.3%). In the national ranking it fell from #5,331 to #5,383.
What does the Census say about the background of Plank?
Among Census respondents with the surname Plank, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.5%) and Hispanic (2.7%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Plank in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.2% (5,765 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Plank appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.2%), Two or More Races (3.5%), Hispanic (2.7%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Plank (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Plank mean?
An occupational surname referring to a carpenter or woodworker who specialized in making planks or wooden boards. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Plank (2.09 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the surname Plank?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.