How common is the surname Jenks?

7,396 people in the United States had the surname Jenks in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 41,745 Americans. It ranked 4,782nd of 162,253 surnames.

What ethnicity is the surname Jenks?

In the 2010 Census, 91% of people named Jenks identified as white (not Hispanic), and 3.0% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

Who is the most famous person named Jenks?

Frank Jenks, American actor (1902-1962), followed by Bobby Jenks.

Where is the surname Jenks most common?

Wikidata records people named Jenks in the United States.

Is the surname Jenks getting more or less common?

More common. 7,138 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 7,396 in 2010, up 3.6%.

The surname Jenks

A patronymic surname, carried by 7,396 people in the United States.

1 syllable Soundex J520

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Jenks is more common than 97.1% of them.

Origin

From a back-formation of Jenkin + the patronymic suffix -s.

Jenks is a patronymic surname: formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 7,396 people named Jenks in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 41,745 Americans. That is up 3.6% since 2000, when the Census counted 7,138.

#4,782

rank among US surnames

7,396

people in 2010

2.5

per 100,000 Americans

+3.6%

change since 2000 (was #4,562)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#4,774	Whitehurst	7,412	41,655
#4,775	Lew	7,410	41,666
#4,776	Hintz	7,406	41,689
#4,777	Fiedler	7,403	41,705
#4,778	Upshaw	7,401	41,717
#4,779	Cushman	7,400	41,722
#4,780	Moorman	7,399	41,728

Who is named Jenks

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

91% of people named Jenks identified as white (not Hispanic), 3.0% as Hispanic or Latino (any race) and 2.2% as Black (not Hispanic).

White (not Hispanic) 91%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 3.0%
Black (not Hispanic) 2.2%
Two or more races 2.1%
American Indian and Alaska Native 1.1%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.9%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Jenkss

4 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Frank Jenks
American actor (1902-1962)
Bobby Jenks
American baseball player (1981–2025)
Jeremiah Whipple Jenks
(1856-1929) American economist
Pi'erre Bourne
American record producer and rapper (born 1993)

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Jenks

Jenks has the Soundex code J520, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code J520.

Questions

Where does the surname Jenks come from?: From a back-formation of Jenkin + the patronymic suffix -s.
How common is the surname Jenks?: 7,396 people in the United States had the surname Jenks in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 41,745 Americans. It ranked 4,782nd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Jenks?: In the 2010 Census, 91% of people named Jenks identified as white (not Hispanic), and 3.0% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
Who is the most famous person named Jenks?: Frank Jenks, American actor (1902-1962), followed by Bobby Jenks.
Where is the surname Jenks most common?: Wikidata records people named Jenks in the United States.
What type of surname is Jenks?: Jenks is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
Is the surname Jenks getting more or less common?: More common. 7,138 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 7,396 in 2010, up 3.6%.