# Wilke (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/wilke/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname originating as a patronymic.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | patronymic, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 8,106 |
| US rank (2010) | 4,386 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 38,089 people |
| Change since 2000 | +3.4% (7,841 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | Wilk, Wilkie, Wilkey, Wilks, Wilkes |

## Etymology

Variant of Wilk, a back-formation from Wilkin.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Wilke in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 95% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 0.5% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.0% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.5% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.9% |
| Two or more races | 1.4% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Wilke in the United States.

## People named Wilke

- Robert J. Wilke, American actor (1914-1989)
- Hannah Wilke, American artist (1940-1993)

## Similar surnames

Wilkie, Wilk, Wilkey, Welke, Walke, Wiles, Wilks, Wilsey, Willsey, Wallace, Wells, Willis.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.