The Wilke surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 8,106 people carried this name — #4,386 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 36,400 people counted. That is up 3% from 7,841 in 2000.
Where the name comes from
The origin of the Wilke surname
Variant of Wilk, a back-formation from Wilkin.
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Wilke» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In Poland’s population register
213 people named Wilke have a registered home in Poland.
Of the 319 in Poland’s national register, these are the ones with a permanent address on file. They live in 13 of Poland’s 16 voivodeships, most of all in Pomeranian.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
PESEL register, Ministry of Digital Affairs of Poland (dane.gov.pl) — CC0 · living people by voivodeship of permanent residence, 20 January 2026.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
107 people named Wilke live in Switzerland.
They live in 12 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 58 people named Wilke.
22 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 9 départements, most often Moselle.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Argentina’s national register
At least 42 people named Wilke live in Argentina.
RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Misiones.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.
In the Nordic population registers
167 people named Wilke is counted in Sweden.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown).
In print
Wilke in American newspapers,
1892–1909.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 358,972 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Wilke,
with a public archive behind them.
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Theodor Wilke d. 1871 · actor
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Andreas Wilke 1562–1631 · secondary school teacher
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Johann Georg Wilke 1630–1691 · writer
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Georg Leberecht von Wilke 1666–1756 · theologian
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Christian Heinrich Wilke 1722–1776 · philosopher
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Johann Georg Lebrecht Wilke 1730–1810 · jurist
Wikidata (CC0) · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Wilke.
- Wilbert 3,222 · U.S. census
- Wilczynski 1,414 · U.S. census
- Wild 8,217 · U.S. census
- Wildermuth 1,651 · U.S. census
- Wilhelm 19,913 · U.S. census
- Wilk 5,763 · U.S. census
- Wilkinson 53,739 · U.S. census
- Will 12,575 · U.S. census
- Willaert 251 · U.S. census
- Willard 21,352 · U.S. census
- Wille 3,734 · U.S. census
- Willem 242 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Wilke is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.